[0:04] We will call the meeting to order at 8.53 a.m., and we have a quorum. And there is no one signed up to address council. So we will move on to welcome and opening remarks. Do you have any see through or do you? Anybody else have any?

[0:28] Well, I'll just say that I know this is asking a lot for a long day together.

[0:34] and also budget and council tonight,

[0:36] that I appreciate everybody's efforts today,

[0:38] and hopefully we will have a positive outcome today.

[0:43] Would you like to go next?

[0:45] Councilman Ricken?

[0:47] Well, this was, say, this workshop.

[0:49] It's been to me the first one, then.

[0:53] I've always been this opinion,

[0:55] and when they say additional dollar tricks,

[0:57] I still remember.

[0:59] Same here.

[1:00] And new councilwoman.

[1:03] Well, I'm happy to be here and looking forward to learning what I need to learn.

[1:11] Your next, sir, any opening comments?

[1:15] Great, great, great day.

[1:16] That's a nice rolling.

[1:24] Helen, is that it?

[1:26] Okay.

[1:27] All right.

[1:29] Good morning.

[1:33] All right.

[1:33] You can take your mind, please.

[1:36] I'm so sorry.

[1:37] Thank you.

[1:38] Thank you very much.

[1:39] Testing?

[1:40] Okay.

[1:40] All right. So I'll ask, I'll start asking the question as my computer starts to wake up.

[1:50] When was the last time that anybody knows this council or anybody having some type of retreat

[1:56] or setting like this? Typically settings, this type of retreat would be tables, moving around

[2:04] this type of thing, it's a dice, but we're going to get through that. One was the last time

[2:07] that we know of that this room three years ago, KCDC, and Council to the Joint Venture.

[2:14] Yeah, I think it was a big square table, a little bit more casual, and we had a oversight

[2:22] by Mrs. Knight, who's from the part that we had.

[2:29] I'll remember who's tonight, but go ahead.

[2:32] First case, so a couple years ago.

[2:37] Well, just to go over, obviously, we have breakfast that will be a working lunch with us

[2:44] and KCDC, from 11 and 1, the consultants will be here.

[2:49] I wanted to get some form of continuity amongst this group and direction and get your direction

[2:56] as far as apartment priorities, as far as budget priorities, and where we are headed into the lawn run.

[3:03] Obviously in my tenure here, this is the first time that we get a chance to come together.

[3:07] In this way, where it's not, I don't want to call it, it's not a form meeting because it is.

[3:12] But it's a less formal, less driven meeting.

[3:15] I want there to be open dialogue as to what the priorities are.

[3:19] So as I mentioned to some of you, when we've had our one-on-one, we have not had a chance to have your one-on-one yet.

[3:28] I go over priorities as they were given to me by the council.

[3:31] So, you guys operate as a body, providing policy direction and we go out and actually deliver as a staff.

[3:38] I want to make sure that there has been no changes in that direction or policy or direction that we're headed moving forward.

[3:46] So, some of the parties that I was given and now I'm going back to technically three councils ago was in relations in regards to where our area of focus was.

[3:58] so public safety was definitely number one. I'd like to know what the strategy or

[4:05] thought is going to be on public safety. We've taken on a different approach, I

[4:12] would call it a gorilla approach if you will. Some of the two gorilla marketing

[4:17] approach from the police department where we're not waiting for things to happen,

[4:22] we're coming forward and trying to be preventive as much as we can. More proactive

[4:26] effective than reactive,

[4:29] chemo being as small as it is, incident happened.

[4:33] So public safety was kind of that first centered approach that we had.

[4:38] After public safety, community development or community quality of life.

[4:44] It's evident in the fact that we are a tourist town.

[4:49] There's the boardwalk, there's the restaurants,

[4:51] there's the walkability and places that we'd like to get better.

[4:55] obviously never says on our parks with 57 anchor park we've got the guest center down the street

[5:00] We're kind of creating that synergy.

[5:04] So that's been kind of the second focus and in no particular order, right? And then third has been a focus on the finance, trying to drive down cost, trying to drive up sales tax in order to hopefully get to a point where we can reduce the burden on the taxpayer.

[5:21] Those are the three lanes, if you will, that I was given when we started also caring over from the short time that I had with Aaron. That's where we kind of laid out a road map

[5:32] of how are we going to attack those three different things?

[5:35] So at the time we had a couple of vacancies in PD.

[5:38] Obviously the chief was hired, vacancies were filled.

[5:40] Thankfully knock on wood we haven't had a vacancy

[5:42] and if we have we've had somebody fill it pretty quickly

[5:44] because we have so many reserves on staff.

[5:48] That's been a very welcome sight for me.

[5:51] Being coming from different places where public safety sometimes

[5:53] it's hard to get those resistance filled.

[5:56] I will tell you that there is a challenge with pay.

[5:59] Okay, we are by far one of the lower paying police departments.

[6:04] So these officers are here because they want to be here, okay?

[6:09] They're here because they want to be here.

[6:12] And I will give, you know, Chief is Flowers, he does a very good job of making the officers

[6:17] feel wanted, appreciated, and he does a very good job with team building and getting them

[6:24] to be engaged and so forth.

[6:27] But, police work is not, although it is a science, no two days are the same, anything

[6:33] could happen, be derailed or anything else.

[6:35] So we know what that aspect of it is.

[6:39] That's been the aspect of PD and the public safety side.

[6:43] Another general direction that I was given when I got here was to try to reduce turnover

[6:47] in the city in general.

[6:49] I know that that was something near and dear to some of the council's heart when I started.

[6:53] Again, I say some of the council then compared it now because there's only two of you that were then here then that are here now

[6:59] So turnover was something that we we want to try to prevent

[7:05] Yes, if if you look at salary comparisons, I'll start there. They're very different from other cities

[7:11] Okay, people are here because they want to be here if you look at comparisons of benefits

[7:16] I think we're getting much stronger. We took a very very big step last year in the eight to one

[7:21] All cities are 7 to 1, if you don't know what that is, we're involved in TMRS where 7% is paid for by the employee and the city contributes and matches 2 to 1.

[7:34] The strength of our actual retirement plan is so strong that it's not a full 2 to 1, it's actually a little bit less.

[7:41] I think last I checked it was about 11% because of the strength of what the pool has.

[7:48] With that, we decided to make the decision to go up to 8% because it was not going to cost the city any extra money.

[7:55] So I think it was a very bold move by the city.

[7:57] We were one of the first in the regions to do that and staff really appreciated it.

[8:01] They really, really did.

[8:03] I think it was something that a lot of folks didn't quite understand.

[8:07] So I'm giving you kind of a recap of what you've done from last year to this year and the emphasis of what it's been.

[8:10] We haven't added many positions only the police officer position that we've added as well as the one public works position

[8:19] So the staff itself has stayed the same size for the most part

[8:24] Not not much growth

[8:27] Your population is grown

[8:29] The areas of responsibility have grown

[8:31] We're doing more than we used to do

[8:36] Arguably your public works staff used to be much larger

[8:40] Some of the stuff we do is outsource, some of the stuff we do in-house.

[8:44] So there's that give and take, and we're always going to find whatever the efficiency is.

[8:48] If it is more efficient for us to do it in-house, then we're going to do it in-house.

[8:51] If it's more efficient, do it out-of-house, we'll do it out-of-house.

[8:53] And we're going to constantly evaluate those things.

[8:56] I want to make sure that I still have your approval, but your vote of confidence

[9:03] will continue evaluating those things as we go, because it's always ever changing.

[9:08] Are there any comments on that part so far?

[9:16] Has anyone done a comparison on pay on the other side of city call as far as administrative

[9:22] sign?

[9:24] Well, we've followed is the HGAC study.

[9:27] I can tell you that if I go down the line, two-thirds of the staff is probably underpaid compared

[9:34] to other cities.

[9:36] Now, the problem is it's hard to match like size cities because if you match us to a smaller

[9:42] community of 2,000 people, then you're going to be like what we're overpaid.

[9:46] That's what I've always found over the years is that because we're so atypical with all of this

[9:52] years and we're in all the different haves. It's not apples to apples in other words when those

[9:57] numbers come in and we do come care.

[10:00] And it's usually a budget when we do that. And I'll also tell you it's a very unique situation in that your town of 2000, but it feels like you're a town of 20,000. And I'll be honest and saying that. And sometimes it feels like more, depending on the day and the evening, the event or whatever else is going on. So hence why you have a town of 2000 that has 20 officers, right? That's that's that that's that.

[10:29] push and pull if you will.

[10:31] Yeah, you look at like stores, they're about the same land mass, they're about the same

[10:35] constituent numbers, or resident numbers, but yet they have police officer, and that's

[10:42] more typical of what our numbers indicate.

[10:46] So for us it's a little bit different, obviously we have different challenges, right, than

[10:54] they do.

[10:54] So having said that, our productivity's up.

[10:59] For a while, we weren't running as efficient when it came to certain things.

[11:04] And I walked in here, there was some challenges in certain departments and courts and so forth that we've,

[11:09] we've, to we've turned around, the numbers show it.

[11:12] We've still got challenges in other places.

[11:14] I think we could do a better job with parking.

[11:15] I think that that is a potential revenue stream unless, you know, there's a potential discussion of reducing the parking and so forth.

[11:23] I want us to have a holistic approach as to how we're going to address things in the long-term moving forward.

[11:30] Last night we had a KCDC meeting and we have two KCDC board members here that can probably provide a better recap than I can.

[11:37] But there needs to be alignment in my opinion and again it's your decision between KCDC and the actual council.

[11:46] Two separate entities but still similar in common goals.

[11:51] There have been suggestions.

[11:53] We took the suggestion that I was made about the management fee that I was discussed.

[11:59] A couple of the CIP projects were actually discussed, including even some sidewalks situation.

[12:05] And I'll go ahead and talk freely about that one.

[12:12] Let me talk about the city secretary's office first before I get to that.

[12:16] We've had a challenge with records.

[12:19] Okay?

[12:21] We've had a challenge with records.

[12:22] and Natasha if I speak out of turn in any which way please correct me.

[12:32] That's fine.

[12:33] I mean to do so.

[12:38] So the city's records being digitized are an ongoing challenge because no sooner

[12:45] that we start to digitize some there's more coming.

[12:51] The pace and the staff that we have I want you to understand that

[12:54] But if you pull out PD, you pull out public works, you pull out the court operations.

[12:59] You add Jerry into our mix because of the hats that she wears.

[13:02] We're running the entire city with normally seven positions.

[13:07] Okay?

[13:08] So that's kind of the challenge that we're dealing with.

[13:11] So there's not a whole lot of time to do this and do that.

[13:14] There's also not a lot of flexibility in the budget to just go really not adding positions.

[13:18] So we understand that.

[13:19] Is there a need?

[13:20] Yes.

[13:20] But can we add at 10 hours here 15 hours there and so forth? That's why we rely so much on consultants or part time or what we're doing now

[13:29] We're starting some some some internships

[13:31] Three of them

[13:33] To start here within this next two started yesterday and one hopefully the other one will be here this week

[13:40] But going back to the city secretary's office

[13:43] There's so much that goes on between the digitizing over 60 years of records

[13:50] Okay. If you go upstairs and you look at where our storage stuff is, there's plans

[13:56] up there that are not digitized. We're not. We are looking at getting a large enough

[14:07] scanner, or in this case we call it a plotter, that we'd be able to scan some of those documents

[14:12] because I read something happens, a lot of those plans are not, are right now not replaceable.

[14:19] So when I tell you that's a challenge, could we pay for a company to do that?

[14:25] Yes, but we don't have $400, $500,000 to go get that done right now, okay?

[14:30] We just don't, so we've been doing it in-house as much as possible.

[14:36] The goal is to have everything digital because we want to be as responsive as possible

[14:41] when folks have a question, whether it's through PIR, whether it's a resident saying,

[14:47] hey I want to do, I need this, I can't find my, whatever the situation may be, we want

[14:52] to make sure that we're responsive as possible.

[14:55] And having to dig through some of this stuff is a challenge sometimes.

[15:00] Okay. It's a challenge. So that is one of the biggest projects that the city secretary's office has handled, it started to handle. That's why when you go down our hallway, all those boxes are there. It's because that is a labor of love having to scan those boxes. And as many boxes as are there, there's probably two to three times that many upstairs that we have to go through the process as well. That's going to take us several years to accomplish. Now, I will give credit.

[15:26] the Tasha's office has been handling that as much as possible and moving us over to laser fish

[15:32] and to try to get us online as much as possible so we can be as digital-friendly as possible to

[15:37] stop using so much paper which is why sometimes we even ask for you guys if you don't need your

[15:42] stuff printed to allow us to give you a tablet so you can see it digitally right because paper becomes

[15:48] just clutter and it's obviously we're trying to keep costs down not just to cost the papers gone up

[15:53] the cost of toner, the cost of the copies, everything also included has gone up.

[15:58] But it's also time consuming.

[15:59] So we're trying to be as efficient and lean as possible.

[16:04] The use of AI, the use of all these things has made us as efficient as we possibly can be.

[16:10] Is there going to be more room?

[16:13] Yeah, more than likely.

[16:14] But right now, I think the biggest challenge that the city secretary's office is having,

[16:20] is having the tools needed in digitization to be responsive as possible

[16:25] to as many requests as come in.

[16:28] Again, it's not just PIR request.

[16:30] A might be a request from a contractor.

[16:33] It might be, hey, where's our easement?

[16:34] Is it here or is it here?

[16:36] Those are challenges.

[16:38] Those are challenges.

[16:40] Did I miss anything on the digitization side?

[16:44] Please, this is open discussion.

[16:45] But we do have a big problem with PIRs too.

[16:47] We do not have the staff to support processing PIRs,

[16:50] and it's about to exceed last year's numbers already,

[16:55] and it's for calendar year.

[16:56] How much time has spent on that?

[16:59] It depends on what they're asking for.

[17:02] A lot of these requests, it's the quantity

[17:05] that they're asking for, because they'll say

[17:06] any and all documents for a certain time period

[17:09] or all emails for a certain time period

[17:11] for all employees.

[17:13] and it just depends on what they're asking for basically.

[17:18] So it could take eight hours, it could take three weeks,

[17:22] depending on what they're asking for.

[17:23] And if they pay for it, we have to process it.

[17:27] And it's also, it's not just digging up the record,

[17:31] but then you have to go through the record and then

[17:32] attack the record.

[17:33] You have to go through and read that.

[17:36] And that's the bigger challenge tied to that.

[17:39] And until we find another way to do it.

[17:44] What's helpful sometimes when we can pick up the phone and ask the request or look help us help you.

[17:48] Can you narrow down the needle and the hang stack a little bit?

[17:51] Because sometimes when it's, for example, I mean, this one happens all the time.

[17:56] I need any and all text messages from the city administrator's phone.

[18:04] I got to go to to to to to attach his office, she's got to download every single message.

[18:08] Then she's got to go through and say, all right, what has to come out?

[18:12] Is there anything in here that has all the qualifying factors, data birth, anything?

[18:16] Pretty much anything in there that needs to be taken out.

[18:19] That request comes in every couple of months.

[18:25] Any and all emails. Any and all emails between Jacqueline Wheeland and Natasha Hinton.

[18:31] I mean, that may not be a lot, but it may be more. It may be a lot.

[18:35] And so that's kind of one of the biggest challenges.

[18:36] And then sometimes we get the same request over and over again.

[18:40] So you have to fulfill it in different ways.

[18:44] Sometimes people don't get what you're looking for and it just asks for what you're looking

[18:47] for.

[18:48] I think that would make things easier but there's a process, people have that open ability

[18:54] to do that and until as a system we find that, you know, better way to do that there is no

[19:01] way to do it.

[19:01] There's nothing we can do but throw resources at it.

[19:03] There is no magic wand we can say, here's all of our stuff online, you know, because a lot of that stuff is what it is, you know.

[19:14] I wish we could do that. I wish we could just say here it is.

[19:17] Here's everything, right? But there's some stuff that can't be that way because it has to be that way.

[19:23] It wouldn't even be on anybody's mind, you know, but they're just like, you know,

[19:27] yeah, but Caesar, I think looking outside the box and not just Kima, but I mean in

[19:31] talking to Natasha yesterday, I think we really need to look at, and I don't think

[19:35] needs to be Kima. I think it's needs to be you and the mayor talking collectively as

[19:39] Galveston County and Harris County talking to Bonham and that group we're going to

[19:43] session. I'm calling Bonham about it. Because I think it needs to be collected, have a

[19:47] meeting and go over the concerns that these folks are having with the PIRs.

[19:50] People are building their businesses on PIRs, which is off the taxpayers' back, which is not right.

[19:55] Can you elaborate on that comment please?

[19:58] I don't.

[20:01] The building of business, can you elaborate? Yeah, we have people that are doing the citations out of our police department to know who has to go through driving school to know who to solicit directly. Yeah, so we're building their business. We get, we get, we get. They're leads off of. We'll get, we'll get questions like any law permits issued in the last six months. When now somebody can now be a carpet cleaning company, whatever the case is right and go do that.

[20:30] And so, it's a way of building leads without paying for lead if you will.

[20:33] And there's a lot of that spare to pay.

[20:35] Well, yes.

[20:36] You can pay for it.

[20:37] They're not in the pay for it out of business.

[20:39] So, I mean, that's not what the intent of that was.

[20:43] I don't think it's the moral maker, and I don't know that they realize what's being done.

[20:46] Right.

[20:47] You know, we have charged thousands of dollars for something.

[20:49] I think that was brought to their attention.

[20:51] I think there's some corrections made to current policies to help, not just chemo, in every city

[20:58] across Texas.

[20:58] I mean, I think it's something that needs to be had,

[21:01] but it needs to be had collectively,

[21:02] not just to chem up 3,000 people,

[21:04] griping about PIRs because we're not the only one.

[21:07] I mean, you can call Aaron Hill.

[21:08] No, I don't know.

[21:10] It's, you know, Odessa.

[21:11] I'm like, I don't know.

[21:12] It's every city.

[21:12] We get by anywhere we call.

[21:14] It's just a matter of collectively putting a group.

[21:16] Not a obvious group, but, you know,

[21:18] just a group of people who are actually feeling it.

[21:20] We can take advantage of mayor and council meeting

[21:22] the next one we have, at least talking about it.

[21:24] I just think we need to be, I don't know

[21:26] that they understand.

[21:26] I mean, they got so much under play.

[21:28] If you don't bring that to them, and they understand the full effects of what it's the effects it's causing at the local level, they can't address an issue they don't understand.

[21:37] So I think that we educated them. I think there's an opportunity for the next session to be some modifications.

[21:43] And I'm not trying to do anything with transparency. I don't think so much of you will build a business off my tax payer dollar.

[21:48] That's what they're doing.

[21:49] Right. No, it's very fair and it's it's also funds that we can't use to go pick spot holes and go

[21:56] Fix sidewalks

[21:58] Counseling Roar and go. I'm going to just

[22:01] Is it possible to

[22:09] But isn't it possible to when council mortist talks about

[22:14] reintroducing or redefining

[22:16] what this is, this PIR is supposed to be, you know, you talked about it at a certain

[22:23] point, you do charge, what if there was a way to develop a system that you were

[22:28] charged of minimal, like a rising scale, would that be possible?

[22:33] Well, you want to clarify that Natasha, what is the pay, what is the overall aspect of

[22:39] the payment for one? I know a lot of people don't pay, but then some do.

[22:43] Yeah, there's the state sets what we're allowed to charge depending on what they're asking for

[22:50] If it hits a certain point like a certain page count or if it's over $40 we do a cost estimate letter

[22:57] Or if there's manipulation of data, which would be reductions

[23:00] It has to hit a certain threshold and we can only charge like $15 per hour to do reductions or

[23:07] Ten cents per page

[23:09] depending on if they're doing paper copies, the state sets all of that.

[23:13] We have no control over that.

[23:16] So also, when she says $15 an hour for redaction, both Natasha's hourly rate and the city attorney who would be doing redactions are labor than that.

[23:28] So we're going in the whole redactions at that point, regardless of who's doing them.

[23:34] I guess some think our administration understands what has transformed in this arena.

[23:40] I think the intent was right.

[23:42] I just think it's blossomed and became a, I'll be

[23:48] right here.

[23:50] There's people using it in the wrong way that it was not intended for in the original legislation.

[23:56] I don't think people understood how it could blossom like this.

[23:59] So I think it's more of an educating one and just showing the heartburn and the pains

[24:05] that we're having and see if there's any relief to be had because I don't think this was

[24:08] there in Seattle when they I don't think that's transparency to me.

[24:13] One of one of the terms that we've used is that

[24:16] PIRs have have have become weaponized.

[24:19] I mean, and that's that's kind of the

[24:23] that's

[24:24] Well, no, well, the reason why I say that is because

[24:27] some folks have the true intent.

[24:30] Some folks have the true intent, but because the method exists the way that it does

[24:34] it allows folks to escape that line and use it for things that may be in a

[24:39] various. I mean if the public has the right to know what's going on. There's nothing

[24:44] we can hide. It's great for us to sit here and keep complaining about it because we've

[24:46] been complaining about it for three years and I've been sitting there but I don't

[24:49] know that we've ever taken it to the next level because we have no jurisdiction of

[24:51] worth this. So we got to start educate the people that do have the jurisdiction

[24:54] because Dennis Paul is a new senator.

[24:56] Right.

[24:58] Directly no wind and he's local.

[25:00] So I'm like, why don't we start sitting down and have education with these folks so that we can try to get a sponsor revealed into? There's got to be something going on. We can not the only city that's complaining about this. There's no way. Well, I think we're one of the only ones that's actually on afraid of being vocal about it. Some folks are just stammering and clamoring and I do anything, but we were actually being vocal about it and trying to find solutions. One of the things that we've talked about doing was, is there a way to have and we've asked, you know,

[25:26] So, the AG's office for opinion on this is how to be able to do third-party charging, right?

[25:37] Natasha's got 40 hours, right?

[25:40] If she has no additional outside help, there's 40 hours or stuff that has to be done within those 40 hours that are tied to her responsibility.

[25:46] So, if all of a sudden you know the people we need to know what I'm saying is as we do this,

[25:50] Well, my idea for the third party charging is to try to get this stuff done in a way where we can

[25:56] Look at other ways of getting this done. It's like I tell residents sometimes I there's issues in the

[26:00] I'm not aware of but if you bring it to me and we have a conversation, I don't have a problem researching it

[26:05] Trying to figure out the best path forward because I'm not aware of it. I mean, I can't be everywhere all the time

[26:10] And not in every community on a daily basis, so if there's something out there

[26:13] I hope they do come to me because I don't mind to put in the time and researching it

[26:17] I've been back to 1963, I think, in records for chemo,

[26:21] working on issues that we've corrected stuff

[26:23] in the 1970s.

[26:25] So I mean, it's not like we're scared to go through the work.

[26:27] I mean, we've been doing the work, so I mean,

[26:29] I can only fix what I'm aware of.

[26:31] OK.

[26:33] Well, let's go ahead.

[26:34] And I'll be brief, because I know we want to stay on schedule.

[26:40] As far as there are tools for auto reduction,

[26:43] Number two, and I don't know the city secretary is going to have to give me the proper term, but there are records retention, and this is at a state level as far as records being retained.

[27:01] so that and then my big and again this is purely my opinion we talk about being

[27:12] proactive not only looking at open records request but what is this it's

[27:25] open record request of us are in my opinion a symptom of the public be it public

[27:33] with the press not knowing what's going on.

[27:36] And just try it to be as much as legally possible

[27:44] to be forthright in announcing that information,

[27:49] passing that information.

[27:50] Oh, well, there it is.

[27:51] So now I know, that's all I want to say.

[27:56] No, no, and that's a fair argument.

[27:57] And I think we've done a pretty good job

[28:00] of being more forthcoming and transparent because a lot of folks in other cities keep everything tight to the chest and so forth.

[28:08] I guess there's other cities that do stuff that we don't do.

[28:11] I mean, we do things that other people don't do.

[28:14] But when we're constantly being asked any male emails, that's not searching for transparency.

[28:21] That's searching for something or trying to create something or to write a narrative of something that maybe to turn it

[28:29] in any which way for someone's gain or for someone's way of trying to manipulate whatever

[28:37] the story is. And like I've told everybody since I got here, there's nothing to hide

[28:42] here, right? There's nothing to hide here. And if anybody wants to come in and spend time

[28:48] with me in the office sitting with meetings on me, I have no problem with that. And I think

[28:52] that's always been open to folks. So on the next subject, if it's okay, anything else

[28:57] So you'd like to comment on it since you're across.

[29:00] The only thing I would like to add is when you do talk to Dr.

[29:05] Greg Bonan or whoever you need to speak with,

[29:07] if they could suggest longer time frames

[29:12] to respond to open records for smaller cities,

[29:15] because we are held at the same standards as larger cities

[29:17] with more staff and it's kind of not fair.

[29:24] Because we still have the same 10 business days

[29:26] to respond as a larger city with five to ten staff members to process these records.

[29:33] And we are a staff of one and a half.

[29:37] Good point.

[29:39] All right.

[29:40] Let's go to PD.

[29:41] I guess could you see?

[29:42] Oh, sorry guys.

[29:43] We don't want to ask another question because I mean, we just don't have to address.

[29:47] Could you reach out to the other city managers in Galveston County, or maybe the mayor, reach

[29:51] out to the mayor's, and maybe get a dialogue of what Santa Fe, Hitchcock, whatever else

[29:57] feeling as well and maybe we can do it compared

[30:00] Mr. Anderson, when are we getting some surpassed last year, in August of this year, on PIRs, so they're increasing dramatically year after year. Is everybody else feeling the same effects? Are we just an anomaly that's right here? I've had no discussions and there's an ebb and a flow. A lot of it is tied to the politics of the individual city. So depending on political differences or political involvement or lack thereof,

[30:28] sometimes that will. But that might give us a direction to have a conversation with

[30:34] bottom-end in it's that's Paul and that how people how people are victimized

[30:39] and people sitting in these seats not just chemo I was talking about just

[30:43] across the board because you see them social media everywhere. They're using

[30:47] this as a tool to attack people and people didn't even realize there's people

[30:52] sitting on the other side of this deal. Most of us are trying to make the right

[30:56] I don't want to say in whole, it's like flock.

[30:58] I don't think 99.9% of police officers are probably

[31:01] doing the right way.

[31:02] And that 0.1% is cause of social media blitz over flock.

[31:06] It's the same way probably in city council is.

[31:08] Most people are trying to do the right thing.

[31:10] Not saying 100% because there's bad apples.

[31:13] And there's something that you do in life.

[31:15] So but I mean, I think it's directed at, you know,

[31:18] it's just like McKinney.

[31:19] I don't know if anybody's watched McKinney,

[31:20] but the city council is getting pounded up there.

[31:23] And they did everything right.

[31:24] They did everything that they swore north to just because your religion belief might be different

[31:28] But your oath says you're going to do what's right and that's what they did and I know they're just getting

[31:33] Glitterated. Well, I don't be all kept up with that. That's just crazy

[31:36] But that council is going through right now and all mayors and everybody else because they actually did what was right

[31:42] I'm like, you might not believe I mean say how to say beliefs is what?

[31:47] The issue might have been but I mean they did everything right

[31:50] Well, I think with every and perfect segue to go into PD because the flock hammer something that I wanted to talk about here, as far as direction, PD obviously being that we have four state roads that intersect through here.

[32:11] There's 96, 518, 2094, and 146.

[32:16] They all intersect in arguably less than a two mile space.

[32:25] That is a large traffic count going to and from.

[32:29] You got upward to 46, 47,000 vehicles that are on 146 alone every day.

[32:36] We are a prime location for all types of nefarious activity because of how transient we are, you can be in and out of here in no time.

[32:47] My understanding of flock and I'll just, I won't try not to say the name flock, it's

[32:52] like using cigarettes and all more, right, or saying fast food and say McDonald's, right?

[32:58] Because flock is just a brand, but LPR cameras themselves are a license plate reading, sorry,

[33:05] I try to get away from acting sometimes, but these LPR cameras exist to be able to scan these

[33:11] licenses and try to come back with information.

[33:14] So now, through driving records, you can find out if somebody might be nefarious, if somebody

[33:19] is driving without an actual driver's license or driving without a valid registration,

[33:24] or if there's an amber alert or a silver alert tied to that vehicle, that was the intent

[33:28] and the focus.

[33:29] And you said 0.1.

[33:30] I would say it's 0.00001, because no, and it's sad that some folks have used that in a way

[33:38] that shouldn't have been used.

[33:41] But the idea is it is a full force multiplier because we can't do that.

[33:46] I'll go ahead and talk about something that happened in South Florida.

[33:49] All I was there, the whole red light camera thing, right?

[33:52] I don't know how that affected Texas or not, but red light cameras,

[33:55] so you don't know, there was a camera at certain red lights that would get ran.

[33:58] It would take a picture of the license plate and they would record you.

[34:01] And it was, I mean, it seemed to work great.

[34:03] I got caught in a couple of of myself.

[34:05] You know, the ticket gets mail into your house.

[34:07] You click on the video, it's kind of hard to deny.

[34:09] I, you know, and you just had to pay the ticket.

[34:12] Well, apparently, as the folklore goes,

[34:16] a certain somebody who was at some type of state office

[34:19] was caught in a vehicle with somebody

[34:21] they weren't supposed to be with

[34:22] and it was shown on that camera.

[34:25] That's what ended up being allegedly

[34:26] the root of the end of red light cameras.

[34:28] Folks felt that it was an invasion of privacy in that sense.

[34:32] All it was is we can't have a police officer

[34:34] at every single red light, right?

[34:37] Try to pull people over because they pull

[34:39] and they actually run the actual red light.

[34:41] That's a safety thing.

[34:44] The intent of these LPRs is a safety thing.

[34:46] It's a force multiplier.

[34:47] It allows us to have more in different locations.

[34:50] We've been lucky enough to get some grant funding to pay for these block cameras

[34:55] that allow them to be force multiplier.

[34:57] So you've got a situation now where some folks in a residential

[34:59] .

[35:00] We had a meeting with, we met with them and they said, hey, please come talk to us about these flock cameras. We understood that there was a concern. We went out there.

[35:10] If there's a concern and folks want the cameras removed, we could oblige to that. But we need communication.

[35:31] They're the ones that brought this topic up and they actually split it with the city 50-50 originally

[35:38] Not only do they want the security of it, but they also wanted eyes on some critical assets at this town

[35:43] Because that's people probably aren't aware as we were we're single-sourced water source

[35:48] And if somebody was to contaminate that water at the main source

[35:52] Theoretically could kill the whole town. Yeah, so I mean, there were some issues there that they were trying to rectify

[35:58] emergency response I guess or emergency management so that's how that originated so

[36:05] that's what got us started and of course the police department's take it to

[36:08] the next level and grant funding added more because we saw the results it's

[36:12] all the benefits of what this could do for the town as far as and the chemo

[36:17] thing has brought up the attention in this town and it was their H.O.A. they brought

[36:21] it to us that they wanted a portal and if we could find a way of doing it could

[36:26] We put them in their entrances and that was their HOA that came to us and asked for help and we did provided that help

[36:32] Which we put the camera in the wrong place. I'm not gonna disagree with that. It shouldn't been on the other side of the sidewalk

[36:37] And that's what caused the controversy, but that was just an oh, somebody's part

[36:43] But I mean, I've had several people in town call me about this issue and my first comment is when you give it to your cell phone

[36:48] And you no longer drop a vehicle. I'll have a conversation with you because everything trash

[36:52] Right, I mean, you know, everything we do across computers, phones every day now is being

[36:58] tracked and we understand that my perspective that I wanted you guys to know is what the

[37:03] LPR cameras are, how they work, how they are forced more to plier.

[37:08] But to be honest with you, we don't have enough throughout the city.

[37:11] There's a couple of spots that I feel that we could probably add more to add another set

[37:15] of eyes.

[37:16] It's to be able to afford to have that minute, yes, ma'am.

[37:19] No, I want to let you finish.

[37:20] No, no, no, I was I was a boss all right allegedly the city of Kima has

[37:29] 40

[37:31] LPR cameras. I would like that and my opinion I believe that there might be

[37:39] coding issues at the

[37:42] vendor source

[37:44] Because if we have 40 cameras, which I don't believe is actually the case

[37:49] That's an issue and I'm talking I'm the account so I'm talking on the money side and it's wonderful that we have

[37:57] those grant funding but grant funding runs out and look at the long-term costs

[38:09] of utilizing that as a chief

[38:13] If Gary says in the toolbox.

[38:17] So one of the things that's contingent about the current set of grant funded cameras that we have is if the money dries up, they go away.

[38:24] We have the decision if we want to pay for it on our own, but we're not contractually obligated beyond any of those terms.

[38:30] That's one thing that I'm not going to sign off on something or recommend something to this council that we're not being that type of predicament.

[38:35] So we do, we can in that situation.

[38:37] The bells and whistles are very nice, but at the end of the day, I grew up on a Cinderella situation, right, when it's midnight, what happens?

[38:46] What worst case scenario, what happens?

[38:48] So with that mindset, we have to be prepared in case that happens.

[38:52] Let me inject into that, though, because I think people don't look into the intangibles.

[38:56] Maybe I'm crazy in what way I think.

[38:58] But since I've set up here to my knowledge, we've actually reduced officers.

[39:03] And we have due to technology.

[39:06] So, yes, our budget has stayed almost relatively sane the whole time I've said here, but our

[39:13] population's increased, the demand's increased, but at the same time we've leaned on technology

[39:17] to assist us because you had an officer on days and an officer on nights, that's $250,000

[39:22] of the city by the time you equipped everything.

[39:24] So, paying for at least on a flock camera needs to be looked at, okay, if we eliminate that,

[39:30] then we're going to have to probably add an officer to provide the same services that

[39:33] we're providing today and what is that cost so make sure we're looking at the total cost

[39:37] not just what's on paper today.

[39:39] And I'm not looking at in terms of eliminating the system.

[39:44] I want to be clear on it.

[39:45] What I am saying is the number and place.

[39:51] Sure.

[39:52] No, and I appreciate that.

[39:54] So, there are...

[40:01] We do have the funding for up to 40.

[40:06] The locations I can get you a whole print out as far as where they are. But I also want to be cognizant of the fact that these things also serve as deterrents. Which is, to me, I think, the biggest factor. Folks are usually less likely to maybe conduct themselves in a certain way if they notice that there's a camera. They might not take that route.

[40:31] They might go a different route or do something different if that's the case.

[40:35] So I wanted to offer us that opportunity or that leniency to be able to have that leeway

[40:41] that we may be rotating them.

[40:43] We may be moving from a different location.

[40:45] If we see one that's not catching something that we might need to move it to a spot that

[40:49] is more needed, that's the beauty of it.

[40:52] I will say they are property and they actually are considered state property since they are funded

[40:59] through state funds. We had one cut down the other day. We had one cut down.

[41:08] I can't go

[41:09] into the charges of it, but that might be an actual state effect. And that's something

[41:13] for us to consider when folks write here doing that. There's other ways of voicing your opinion

[41:18] or telling us something different than to just go out there and vandalize because that's

[41:22] what that is. That is vandalism. That's no different if somebody would have hit a police

[41:28] car or something like that nature. It's no different. It is a piece of equipment but it is a set of

[41:34] eyes and it does provide us information that we do keep people safe with regardless of what

[41:39] it is. That's the intent. We go above and beyond on making sure that our officers are pretty much

[41:47] read the right act. You will be charged if you violate those policies within our city. There will

[41:55] be consequences. It's not a slap in the face, a slap in the hand. It is some very, very

[42:00] serious consequences that I feel very comfortable in leading in that, and we do plenty of audits

[42:04] in that to make sure. We had a situation where somebody pulled a certain play a certain

[42:09] amount of times. I'm not going to get into details. But that person was brought in question

[42:13] why, and they had the reason why. This is what it was, here's what I saw, here's what

[42:17] it didn't see, here's a pattern, here's so and so forth. Where I hear you're doing police

[42:20] work to. Some of the stuff that happens behind the scenes is that some people don't want

[42:25] to talk about because it is what keeps people up at night, but it's what the work that

[42:30] is done.

[42:32] One of our latest arrests that we had was picked up due to a clock camera.

[42:40] It is what it is. There's numerous cases. The pros outweigh the cons in that situation

[42:46] where you want to come to public safety.

[42:48] Do some people have issues in an agniperious?

[42:52] Yeah, but they can do that with a shopping cart at Walmart,

[42:55] okay?

[42:56] It's just the truth and reality we're living.

[42:58] But whatever this body's will is,

[43:00] that's what we will go with.

[43:01] We did go to that meeting.

[43:03] We did tell the folks in Kima Oaks,

[43:04] and we let them know that if there was a desire

[43:07] for those flock cameras to be removed from that neighborhood,

[43:10] to please let us know in writing,

[43:12] and we would act according.

[43:14] Cesar, I think he started when you said the first priority that you were given was safety.

[43:20] Yes.

[43:21] And then if you look at managing cost, which is part of the budget cycle, it's, what

[43:27] do we do as a body to make sure there's integrity and alignment in supporting public safety?

[43:34] And then you mentioned that we have officers who want to be here, but they are not paid at

[43:39] the same levels that other towns do.

[43:42] Yes, right.

[43:42] And so, if you look at the impact of that, I think that's the harder question.

[43:48] How do we make sure that we continue focused on public safety and I would say officer,

[43:54] safety, community safety, and then how are we making decisions to support that alignment?

[44:01] One thing I could tell you and during the room and I would speak the same if they were not

[44:05] in the room, you've got a good leadership team within your beliefs department.

[44:10] They are not afraid to come tell me when there's an issue, they're not going to hold back.

[44:15] And that's a relationship that I think we built from day one being together.

[44:20] When they need something they're going to ask for, they're not going to over ask if there's

[44:24] a way to incentivize or to keep morale up or anything else that we're going to do with

[44:28] our department, that's what we're going to do.

[44:33] We don't control the budget, if you will, when it comes to that.

[44:37] So, as was mentioned, a police officer right now, a police car is at least $100,000.

[44:43] That's just for a car.

[44:45] When you add a-

[44:46] That's all equipped, correct?

[44:48] Correct.

[44:48] That'd be equipped.

[44:49] And, you know, certain cars with certain bells and whistles may cost a little bit more, a little bit less.

[44:52] But-

[44:53] Yeah.

[44:53] Right about figure about 100k.

[44:55] Is that about right?

[44:56] I don't think so.

[44:57] So, and that number of changes every-

[45:00] Every day. These cars are equipped with a lot of state-of-the-art equipment. Okay? And if you've been to the police academy, the citizens of the police academy, if you haven't, please do so. You'll gain quite a bit of experience and learn more about all the things that these vehicles have. But that priority of having the tools that they need, when we got here, there were ballistic vests that were out of commission.

[45:28] We retained grant funding for that.

[45:31] There were tasers that were obsolete.

[45:34] We were able to receive grant funding for that to get that replaced.

[45:37] You had not only where you low pay, but you also had equipment that wasn't where it was.

[45:42] There was police cars that were 15 years old at some point.

[45:46] We've slowly started to flip those vehicles here and there we're trying to get two per year.

[45:49] That's why in the budget you have that request.

[45:53] So you can keep your fleet somewhat new and active.

[45:58] And we're not afraid to go ask.

[46:00] We're not afraid to go write grants.

[46:01] I mean, we started working with grants

[46:03] and under cheese leadership, they've been very active.

[46:07] We don't get all of them, but we're

[46:09] trying to do whatever we can with the much free money

[46:10] as possible.

[46:11] So that, I think, allows us to do more with less.

[46:14] We just wrote a cops grant that would allow us for two officers,

[46:20] that would allow us to have essentially 50% of their salary

[46:24] paid over those three years.

[46:27] and that's it. You have to keep him for at least a year at your actual salary and you can decide

[46:30] what to do after that. But we're doing everything we can to do more with less. The intent with that

[46:36] is once we reshuffle things is we'll do what we can to make sure that those are self-sufficient

[46:40] because we've noticed different areas where we could do more. Whether it be CID or criminal

[46:48] investigation side of things or your detective side of things, there's a lot of other crimes that

[46:53] are not happening in broad daylight that we can't get to as much because it's not just

[46:58] your office on the street that deal with those.

[47:01] So I think that the biggest challenge coming up against is it's going to be pay here

[47:07] in the horizon.

[47:08] I think it's something that we're going to have to address here soon as and later because

[47:11] it is an arms race.

[47:12] You've got people, you have offices around us that are hiring for substantial bonuses.

[47:32] We just want to stay competitive, not the best, and I talked to this guy all the time,

[47:36] these two for sure. We talk about this all the time, that we're just trying to compete.

[47:42] There's a sergeant fixing to lose, and it's only because of the money.

[47:45] he loves it here, loves Kema, loves working for them, not me, let's just say them, but I'm

[47:51] gonna lose a good guy that's very proactive, leading and arrest, leading in DWIs as a

[47:56] sergeant wants to be here, but in the end, what are we getting? I said, if we're blessed,

[48:01] we're getting 3%, right? And he puts the numbers together and that's compared to Harris County

[48:07] precinct eight where he's applying. I can't give him that money, but can I make as much

[48:13] is zebra kind of make as much as clearly shores that's what we're asking

[48:17] can we at least compete with Lamarck you know those kind of places right I

[48:21] can't compete with Harris County. What's the Delta like when you look at

[48:24] zebra pay to our pay? What's the gap that we're experiencing? You're probably

[48:30] talking about a 10% somewhere near 8 to 10% yeah somewhere in that area and again

[48:36] and because of the great things that you guys allow them to do here in the

[48:40] That makes up, you can make up some of that difference, but 3% out of time makes it kind

[48:44] of hard.

[48:45] You know, I mean, you saw Harris County, of course we're not thin, and they had a 21%

[48:49] we can't do that, right?

[48:50] Now they're excited, and they're happy in HPD.

[48:53] I'm not competing with them.

[48:53] If you're going to HPD, you're gone.

[48:55] I understand that.

[48:55] Never going to, I just want to keep up close to what they're, but what we're very blessed,

[49:01] you don't see us advertising that we need officers, you know why?

[49:04] Because they want to work here.

[49:06] They're having to give $5,000 bonus to sign on, and I'll say it, it is what it is.

[49:12] Things must be going right here now.

[49:14] How do we find a way to keep them?

[49:16] And it's about the dollar.

[49:17] These younger officers, he could tell them I'm giving you 10% of your retirement.

[49:21] And knowing it given seven, what does that mean by the hour?

[49:24] That these younger guys just want to know what they're taking home every two weeks.

[49:27] Not what they're going to take home in 20 years to make sense.

[49:30] I want to clarify something on the flock cameras real quick.

[49:33] We have 40 cameras, but understand that's not at 40 locations.

[49:38] I think the public needs to know that.

[49:40] There's only 17 that are stationed at locations.

[49:44] The other 24, right?

[49:47] They're actually 24 physical LPR cameras that are stationary.

[49:51] The rest are on security surveillance trailers.

[49:54] Traitors.

[49:54] We saw that the other day and said, hey, Leaksie, there's not 40 cameras on every, that's-

[50:00] Not the case here. The other remaining are on traders that we move around for special events. Sixth street, Walmart, it's over the Ulta now. I'm going to Ulta, the city parking lot. Those things come in real handy when we need them. And I can only fight for as much as I can fight for them. But when you have a smaller department and four million visitors visiting this city, those are additional eyes. And I think we look the other day, you might be averaging one search per day that we're using. That's what it averages out to.

[50:29] 30. That's one a day that we're looking, we're not HP, we're not here, we're not

[50:34] the poor, we're not the poor. We're not looking 30 searches a day. It's one on

[50:38] average a day and he monitors that, he's kind of, he's up around the edges when it

[50:45] comes to that kind of stuff. He doesn't play that stuff and they know it and we

[50:48] constantly remind people this won't be tolerated, you know. So I hope you can,

[50:53] you guys continue to support that because if we can't do it with additional

[50:56] officers to talk about the tasers before I got here, we had to give up two or three officers.

[51:03] Two and a half positions, be correct, because we didn't have the money in the budget,

[51:07] but they also knew we needed these officers, I mean, these tasers.

[51:11] So we gave up those two and a half positions to get tasers.

[51:15] That was three years ago, four years ago.

[51:17] Correct.

[51:18] We did not replace those officers, I get it.

[51:20] Okay, but don't take away these other security measures.

[51:23] we have these officers that are standing on every other intersection that are

[51:28] eyes for us. If something goes down, we can get to it quickly. I promise you no

[51:33] one's abusing and I'll say it out loud in public, they will be fired. I promise

[51:38] that man right there in the blue, the dark blue shirt when he went to a meeting

[51:41] with us, they will be fired and they know that. Can't do that. But you know we have

[51:45] access to so many other things running registrations. That's not even related to

[51:49] block. Drawers like we get in trouble for that too. It's the same thing if same thing applies.

[51:54] So again I know you guys only have so much to work with. I mean just so everybody's aware too.

[51:59] I mean KCDC put cameras at the 57-acre park and they're tied into PD as well. Yes sir.

[52:04] So we have a eyes on the 57-acre park one for bandwidth and two just in case something happens

[52:08] in the park and we have it where it can expand the whole 57 acres in the process was designed

[52:14] so that as the park grows, the camera system can grow with it.

[52:17] Yes, sir.

[52:18] So, I mean, we're going to call the ESB and everything else

[52:22] to serve us a 57-acre park, because if somebody has a heart attack

[52:24] and they'll that park, you've got to get them out of there.

[52:27] You're going to have to have the apparatus and equipment.

[52:29] Yes, sir.

[52:30] As a city.

[52:30] Yep. The minute someone calls in from the park,

[52:33] dispatch starts a dispatch and shot them out.

[52:34] It gets into the system and starts monitoring and tell them,

[52:37] hey, God in the red shirt, did whatever.

[52:38] Maybe he's on a dirt bike. Whatever the call is,

[52:40] he just went into the wood area.

[52:41] Those are eyes for us.

[52:42] because we, you're not going to, yes, most of y'all don't

[52:46] I might just allow to do, I don't know if y'all know how many

[52:48] all should we have on the street sometimes y'all. And trust me,

[52:52] we need to have those additional forces out there for us to

[52:57] assist us. Chief, do you mind if I interject for a second? Also,

[53:01] one thing I want to address, and this was addressed at the

[53:03] meeting we had with the chemo ox HOA. It was put out online

[53:07] that the cameras in 57 acre park are halfway should

[53:11] recognition near flock cameras. They are not that was established and clarified October of 2025 before they went in

[53:18] So I just want to know facial recognition none whatsoever on any of our cameras here in the city

[53:22] I mean pure hate. They're gonna look and see is it me leaving it to in the morning whatever is and that's not what the system is dying

[53:28] Your vehicle though, but it's not gonna see who was in the vehicle

[53:32] You know, so that that's not true

[53:34] But I get it. There's other things going on throughout the county and the state and the country now

[53:39] All I can tell you is just do as much as I can to reassure you it's not happening in

[53:43] chemotexas.

[53:44] That I can tell you.

[53:45] Thank you so much.

[53:46] Yes, ma'am.

[53:47] That's how you get a new car in the fleet out there.

[53:49] So that is, I'll talk about that real quick, that my wife and I bought that vehicle 20 years

[53:54] ago, 25 years ago when I was passing the police officer, it was my dream to make it a classic

[53:59] vehicle.

[54:00] It never happened.

[54:01] I become the chief in free port.

[54:03] We donated free ports and people put some money into it while it was there.

[54:08] They decided after I left not to continue deploying it.

[54:11] It went backwards, started rusting out and all this and that.

[54:14] Anybody listening, all the wonderful people that donated money as much as we could, we

[54:18] raised about $7,000 and we were able to get it, not the best paying job, but we got some of

[54:23] the rust spots fixed, the rims had rusted, new rims on it, the interior had already been

[54:27] done.

[54:28] You're going to put the graphics on it, but probably later today.

[54:30] And now I've got a gentleman on Anders, probably down the road from you that does classic vehicles.

[54:35] and he's going to give us a deal. Some of that we can find in the budget very light, but now it has a motor in it, it actually runs, but the fuel pumps, but it's going to be beautiful.

[54:43] It just, that kind of vehicle tells you what Kema is about. When we see that one at the boardwalk that everybody loves, now we'll still have that one there.

[54:51] Now we're going to have one that actually be in some parades around. So we'll move it around the city and show it also.

[54:56] So, yep, we're excited for that.

[54:58] Next project, we got going.

[55:00] So I'd like to use that to transition as Juan P.D.'s here to talk about the crime rate.

[55:08] Historically, and this is something we don't run from or hide from. Historically, Kima has had one of the highest crime rates in the state. And I will don't notice that and don't realize that. So when you see that come out, please don't be alarmed. That is a normal thing. It is not uncommon for us to be

[55:30] in the top 10 of crime rates for the state of Texas.

[55:33] But why is that?

[55:34] It's tied to our population.

[55:37] You have one or two incidents happen, and all of a sudden,

[55:39] it just goes out of control.

[55:43] Obviously, violent crime versus property crime

[55:45] are two different types of crimes,

[55:46] but understand that those things influence the crime rate.

[55:51] It is not a reflection on whether we're safe or not.

[55:54] One or two incidents throw that thing out of haywire.

[55:57] We're working on doing everything we can

[55:58] and to drop that as much as possible.

[56:01] Now, there has been a problem

[56:03] and they could tell you better than I can

[56:05] on what's happened with the league city consortium.

[56:08] You're gonna hear that Motorola,

[56:10] league city consortium, the data collection, what have you.

[56:13] That's who controls the stats

[56:14] for most of the cities in this general area.

[56:16] There's been some challenges

[56:18] is the best way I can describe it.

[56:20] In that, you guys wanna touch on that

[56:22] because we have not been able to get apples

[56:25] to apples comparison of crime rates

[56:27] and it's not just us,

[56:28] So it's a lot of us in the city that are infected.

[56:30] Okay, as you all know, March of this year we actually transitioned from OSSI which is an old legacy system to a new system for Motorola.

[56:41] With that current change and this is happening region wide, everybody's having issues with

[56:47] certain categories and stats that they're capturing as well as kind of fleshing the system out because it is a brand new system.

[56:53] So, they're still working the bug out of it.

[56:56] It may take maybe two years before it actually gets to where it needs to be.

[57:01] But weekly, we have meetings, we're project managers as well as for League City.

[57:06] And we're consistently working on smoothly nose out.

[57:09] We actually just had a meeting with them about four months ago, all the agencies in the county.

[57:13] And they all expressed, we're not the only ones they all expressed their concerns about the consortium.

[57:17] But just to let me touch on that, I still feel very proud that we are one of the safest cities in

[57:22] I was in County when I say that if you have one robbery in the town of our size and you have had no robberies for the last two years

[57:29] It's kind of cool up for the one. We're not having ten robberies ten Ag assaults

[57:34] I'm very proud of and you also have a proactive police department now

[57:37] So they're generating their own crime stats because they're out there looking for people to throw in jail

[57:42] You know, they got a tip the other day on someone doing something wrong

[57:45] They found the guy and got with the jail. We got a call to one work the other day that someone was possibly

[57:50] using the phone to get under people's skirts and my sergeant went over there

[57:55] just to investigate and found out that the guy was still there and had just done

[57:59] it 30 minutes and he put him in jail. So those are stats going up, I'll take

[58:04] those stats all day long, taking a perv off the street for doing what he did, we

[58:09] have a great police department guy. I mean I say that proudly, I'm good because of

[58:13] my team. They're the ones that make me look good, I promise you. They're out

[58:16] they're working every moment, slowing people down on this bypass, I can play in yesterday

[58:21] because I'm off to stop somebody on 5.18. That's what the citizens expect. They want

[58:26] you to slow people down on 5.18. We're speeding. 15 miles over the speed limit is too fast.

[58:31] You know, so anyway, I don't want to keep you too long, but thank y'all for your continued

[58:35] career.

[58:35] Huh?

[58:36] That was a cricket.

[58:37] What's cricket?

[58:40] Oh, man. It was a joke. They asked me to do a taste thing. I didn't know. They gave me

[58:46] two things to eat, naidem, and the last thing, I thought it was a cockroach and I said

[58:52] he's not a cockroach, he said it's a cricket, I never did that, he made, thanks for bringing

[58:56] that up in an open form, I appreciate that, I can always count you in an open hand.

[58:59] Now thank you all so much for what you all do for us, I really appreciate it.

[59:01] Are there any questions for PD directly while they're here and available for a move on to

[59:05] the next department?

[59:08] Thank you for what you all do.

[59:09] Thank you, sir.

[59:10] general direction is also like they're they're greeting kids I do a lot with with

[59:18] the kids keep on the elderly and the positive side I mean the warm fuzzy

[59:24] stuff too I mean they're they're keeping peace they're protecting but they're

[59:28] also doing me we're headed over to coffee with coffee with coffee over at Cuban

[59:34] cafe I got to be there in 10 minutes it's what we're doing here again they all all

[59:38] my officers have bought into this deal, you know, they go crime fight, then we go put

[59:42] on a costume for the kids. We're going to go help the kids fold the flag. They're

[59:46] going to sussan on the way down there to teach them how to fold the flag so they can

[59:49] raise it at the front of the school. That's what we do. That lady gives me a

[59:52] counter to the cheerleaders and collect shorts. Yeah, but I'm gonna say it's still

[59:57] keep a borderline to be outside part of maybe the kitchens in

[1:00:08] We're getting views of 28 million views on one of our post, 15 million views on one of our 8 million views in the little town of Kima. So we're doing something right, and now we're going to try to see we're working on it to see we can monetize, maybe make a little extra money for some of these community projects.

[1:00:28] that way we can lessen on our budget, you know, if we can use some of this money for other things,

[1:00:33] maybe the police car, things like that, the classic car.

[1:00:36] But we're trying, we're always open to hear anything.

[1:00:39] We went with the seniors, Councilman One, I asked them to give the prize back and he refused, he kept it.

[1:00:44] Now we had a good time, so we did a bingo with them, and we had a great time with them.

[1:00:48] So we're going to continue doing what we're doing, but again, we can't do it without your support.

[1:00:52] So thank you all.

[1:00:54] I will just ask one thing, well I mean if whoever's gonna stay, if there's ever a conversation

[1:01:03] that needs to be had about anything having to do with PD or the approach or anything else,

[1:01:08] it's not just a community, regular standard community policing, it's not a reactive, it's

[1:01:13] not a proactive, we call this a morph of kind of all those and that's the approach that

[1:01:18] this leadership has decided to take and that's one that we've supported.

[1:01:21] So I think that's the consensus we have if that's changed and we need to know.

[1:01:28] Okay, any discussion on that?

[1:01:31] Okay, great.

[1:01:32] Thank you guys.

[1:01:32] Appreciate it.

[1:01:33] Careful.

[1:01:33] See you.

[1:01:34] Do we need a break or are we good?

[1:01:36] We're good?

[1:01:38] Okay.

[1:01:38] All right.

[1:01:39] Quickly, let's go to Devin's here.

[1:01:42] We can go ahead and talk about communications.

[1:01:44] This is an area that I think there's a lot of potential for Kema between communications

[1:01:50] and tourism. We are driven by tourism. We are driven by sales tax, whether in the form

[1:01:57] of regular local tourism or whether it's visitors that are coming. Either which way boats

[1:02:04] are coming to Kima, folks enjoy coming to Kima. We've got the data to prove it. We have

[1:02:09] a lot of people that are coming to come visit and eat and drink and partake in Kima. However,

[1:02:16] However, the numbers are still down when it comes to that.

[1:02:21] Whether it's inflation, pricing pieces, whatever, have kept the numbers somewhat steady.

[1:02:26] But in some facets, anywhere between 5% and 7% is where we've seen there would be some

[1:02:31] type of downfall.

[1:02:33] We've looked at different marketing tactics to try to get that back up.

[1:02:37] But as a whole, KEMA has never been big on marketing, has never been big on that approach.

[1:02:46] That's historically, I can tell you, a lot of folks know chemo because they've been here.

[1:02:51] But I folks have been to Disney World.

[1:02:53] If you don't see commercials about Disney World, you're not going to think about going back.

[1:02:57] So I'd like to know the approach and the thought process of how we feel about marketing and communications in general.

[1:03:05] We've tried segments of keeping chemo to keep the locals informed.

[1:03:08] But we're also doing different things like the videos that we've done to try to breed tourism.

[1:03:13] What are our thoughts on that?

[1:03:15] Do you like the direction that we're trying to ship to to try to bring more folks in?

[1:03:20] Obviously, that's going to come with dollars behind it or some time of campaigns behind

[1:03:23] it.

[1:03:24] But what's the general consensus?

[1:03:29] I think over the years, I would agree with you that the general consensus of this board

[1:03:38] was not to pour a lot of money into marketing and advertising, although they have.

[1:03:45] over the years. But we've tried a lot of different things. And again, I think we're unique in

[1:03:54] that a lot of times the overall feeling up here is, well, we're already getting a fairly big bank

[1:04:02] for nobugs because the boardwalk mentions Kima every time they advertise anything, typically,

[1:04:08] it's not like we're not known out there and they're still, their advertising comes with

[1:04:16] just that alliance regardless. And we used to have a CVB or we had a tourism and so we've

[1:04:25] tried several different things. The last time we went with a marketing agency, I think the purpose

[1:04:33] this, they fulfilled it was to create some branding and graphics for KCDC and the city

[1:04:41] art kind of already had that established and to separate those two.

[1:04:46] One is a come visit and have funny chema, tourism type side, and one is more the city purpose

[1:04:54] and separate those two out and brand them differently.

[1:05:00] Which we did, it just, it was a large ticket item, and at that time, I think we had to make decisions

[1:05:09] on where the money and the budget went then. Do you still remain active with the chamber

[1:05:16] and the this and the that and they have and things like that, or do you, because there's only

[1:05:22] X amount of dollars to go around there. And then when Pat came on board she kind of changed the focus. We

[1:05:30] rolled off of MDR and she put that money that MDR was using for certain things

[1:05:40] to use in different places around the state in magazines and they probably speak to where she

[1:05:48] decided to put a lot of that better than I can specifically. So we've tried a lot

[1:05:56] of things over the years that I've been in here.

[1:06:01] I guess I'll jump in on this one.

[1:06:04] Yeah, you would have a lot of insight on this. Marketing. I think all of that is an

[1:06:12] an accurate statement from both the mayor and conceder.

[1:06:17] One thing I'll kind of recommend to this body is understanding that when we focus on marketing dollars,

[1:06:27] the ROI of marketing isn't the same, isn't measured the same as the ROI of a capital expenditure that you know you're going to write off in 10, 12, 15 years over the case maybe, or a new building or a new park.

[1:06:43] that stuff, you know, marketing is like trying to turn an aircraft area and it's a long

[1:06:54] and slow process, it's expensive up front, you may not get people in town historically

[1:07:01] and previous council members that I've spoken to, when they see marketing dollars spent

[1:07:07] and then they see tourism is flat, they go see you wasted money, like well, it's not exactly

[1:07:12] how it works, you know, it takes two or three cycles to really get somebody to plan a

[1:07:18] trip here, you know, and get the messaging out there and repeat it in a valuable way

[1:07:23] that stays top of mind that, you know, and then the other piece of that, you know, is where

[1:07:32] when people see the marketing or the billboard or the social media post or the video, they're

[1:07:39] to go to social media and figure out what's came all about, you know, and I think this town, you

[1:07:45] know, from a business standpoint in that some businesses are better than others at marketing

[1:07:53] their own business. Some people, some business owners are all about it. Some business owners think

[1:07:58] the city should do all of it. There's some business owners that wish the city would just get out of

[1:08:03] the way, you know, and then there's some, there's plenty of people in the middle that would just take

[1:08:07] whatever help we can give them, you know, but if you search social media posts on

[1:08:13] KEMA, you know, you're going to find post-bash in the city. You're going to find

[1:08:17] post-bash in the boardwalk. You know, that's just part of it. And so people see

[1:08:22] and they go, all the marketing didn't work. Well, you got to give it more than one

[1:08:25] marketing cycle. That's going to take more than one budget cycle. And I feel like

[1:08:29] we've struggled as a city. I've been money in marketing or not and it goes with

[1:08:37] the turnover on council. And it's just part of it. It's a challenge, it's a battle, it is what it is.

[1:08:44] You know, my main concern is marketing is a big task, a big ask for one person.

[1:08:53] My concern is, are you, does staff have the bandwidth to execute the marketing plan?

[1:09:02] And not only executed, but also the bandwidth to do it long enough. Are we going to,

[1:09:06] But, you know, this body needs to be willing to commit and probably commit for a budget

[1:09:09] or two or three to really make that make sense, because if we're just going to do it for

[1:09:15] one year and go, ah, that didn't work, well, then it's never going to work, and we might

[1:09:17] as well just abandon it and put the dollars elsewhere and to work for the taxpayers.

[1:09:23] So that's just saying going to cut it.

[1:09:25] And I think that's exactly what has happened.

[1:09:27] It was just a nature of reaction that went into gratification, and when it didn't work

[1:09:31] in one cycle, it was like, oh, well, let's not do that.

[1:09:36] or that money wasn't a well-savent.

[1:09:41] So...

[1:09:42] What I would add to what Robin and Dustin are talking about from a marketing is...

[1:09:47] And I think the strategic plan will help with this.

[1:09:50] Yes.

[1:09:50] But it's getting clarity on what category do you want to brand Kena N?

[1:09:56] And so there's the boardwalk, but then you're also talking...

[1:10:02] And that's where the consistency of the brand and the category, and then if you're using

[1:10:09] the different mediums, so whether it's TikTok and Instagram and Facebook and, you know, every

[1:10:17] different thing that you're using, those all require different formats, and they require

[1:10:23] different digital pieces that you've got to decide in my opinion you're going

[1:10:32] to either go all in and I think it's a three-year commitment because it takes

[1:10:38] at least a year to get momentum and recognition and then have that

[1:10:44] category where you start to have category ownership that when people search

[1:10:50] you're coming up and that's what they're recognizing.

[1:10:56] Well, and one of the things is too is as a city we may not be large enough to do it on our own.

[1:11:02] So I'm going to segue to my next question if that's okay because it's tied to this.

[1:11:07] I understand the CVB did not work here before, it did not work in the way that it was.

[1:11:13] My question is is regionally what would it take for

[1:11:17] to participate in some type of regional destination marketing effort.

[1:11:22] You need to get every city around the lake to commit and stick to their commitment.

[1:11:26] And start with Webster because they're sitting on a boatload of cash to do it and they refuse.

[1:11:32] Is there an appetite from Kima to play a role in that?

[1:11:36] I won't speak for the whole board, but I would recommend it as someone who works in the tours of and marketing space.

[1:11:44] It's a way to multiply dollars.

[1:11:46] We're never going to have enough money in a single budget cycle to do everything we want to do from a marketing standpoint and get everything else done

[1:11:51] And honestly marketing shouldn't be the number one priority of this body when it comes to sure everything else to run in the city

[1:11:58] Or any city in my personal opinion, you know, but

[1:12:01] League City, you know has a visitor's

[1:12:05] You know see their own little in-house version of that Webster, you know, they all have EDCs. They all have some version of the tourism marketing budget

[1:12:16] Why the cities around the lake historically struggle to come together and pull their dollars?

[1:12:23] You know, the order of magnitude that $3 million would go to is way more than what a million will go to.

[1:12:30] People think a million dollars is a lot of money.

[1:12:32] In marketing, I can throw a million dollars into the wind in ten minutes.

[1:12:35] You give it to me.

[1:12:36] You know, and you can see that money again.

[1:12:38] It's just going to be gone.

[1:12:39] So, you know, their towns around the lake that have the resources to do it, we just need

[1:12:46] to figure out what levers to pull to get them to collaborate and ship in and everybody

[1:12:50] stick to those commitments.

[1:12:52] And a lot of it has to do with the turnover of their leadership and council and staff and

[1:12:55] all that, you know, because some years you'll get sea brick on board and want to do it and

[1:13:01] next year they're like, nope, never mind, not a priority and they're gone.

[1:13:05] and you'd wait a couple of cycles and then maybe Nassau Bay comes back, maybe

[1:13:09] League City comes back, you know, I know the chambers trying to get a CVB kind

[1:13:13] of, they're, they've explored what that looks like to bring back or at least not

[1:13:20] necessarily prop up on their own but figure out how to solve that and I think you

[1:13:25] know that that's going to be the key to really driving a real value to the

[1:13:30] taxpayer is every city needs on the lake that wants to drive tourism, needs to drive tourism,

[1:13:36] they need to commit to it. And if they're not willing to commit to it, you know, we'll never have

[1:13:40] enough in the budget to do what we need to do here. It just isn't going to happen. Yes, sir.

[1:13:46] And I agree with you on what you're saying. One thing we would probably need a message is we need

[1:13:52] the right message to put it up. Okay, I'm going to say this. I've got my own website.

[1:14:00] Through AI I came up with voicing the Gulf Coast spirit.

[1:14:05] Why couldn't we say Kima voicing the Gulf Coast spirit and then start building from there?

[1:14:12] I'm going to say make sense.

[1:14:14] Sure.

[1:14:14] No, I ain't.

[1:14:15] Where my college degree was in filming.

[1:14:18] And so I understand the idea of to spend the presentation.

[1:14:23] And if we just start talking about the Gulf Coast spirit

[1:14:41] And I think that's the city's moniker has been gateway to the bay.

[1:14:47] I think that's been the city's moniker kind of for a while.

[1:14:51] I just, every council that changed is going back to what was said is I have to

[1:14:57] gauge the appetite as to what we're going to do and then there's

[1:15:00] There's that push and pull. I know Devon wants to make a comment, but before we get to Devon, is there anybody else's pulse on how you feel about that so we can drive this direction? Because for a city like us that depends on sales tax, every additional bump is helpful, right? Whether it's through special events, whether it's through marketing campaigns, whether it's through certain things, those things are important. So I'd like to kind of get the pulse on, it sounds to me like Dustin would be in support of it, sounds to me like Mr. Ward, you'd be in support of it.

[1:15:28] Is everybody kind of in support, am I getting kind of, no?

[1:15:33] Darren says no.

[1:15:35] Okay, so what's the...

[1:15:37] In concept, I'm definitely supportive and agree with

[1:15:40] Dustin 100%, but I sat on that board for several years.

[1:15:45] It was difficult because of the cycles and because the politics

[1:15:50] all around the lake to get everybody on board

[1:15:53] and get a large enough pile of money to make an impact.

[1:15:57] It was like fighting and up hill battle constantly.

[1:16:02] So if I'm going to be visibly responsible to the city now,

[1:16:06] it's probably not such a great idea unless there's an entity

[1:16:12] that you knew the money was going to go there.

[1:16:15] In other words, it's okay.

[1:16:18] For example, I see the boardwalk tearing down two restaurants,

[1:16:24] We're investing in chemons and putting in a water park of sorts and it's in new rides.

[1:16:32] I see that as a bigger blessing for us as a city overall than us trying to chase a

[1:16:41] CVV that was dysfunctional at many times, not because the people on the board were not

[1:16:47] good or capable or whatever, but because the cities were so up and down and volatile about

[1:16:53] But who could make that decision to put money in every year and the budget was so all over

[1:17:00] the road.

[1:17:00] You'd have a budget and you'd start to try to do things and then the budget would be

[1:17:04] gone a few months or a year.

[1:17:07] And it was a very, very tough organization to run and pull off, pulling those cities as

[1:17:16] he says around the lake.

[1:17:18] They didn't all buy into it all the time.

[1:17:21] If I could get some input from a couple of riders and a council on the board.

[1:17:25] Well I can say you've sent up here for five years and all that was pre-daring because

[1:17:29] I don't remember any of those dates because I got here after COVID and everything shut down.

[1:17:33] But I have looked at this body and I'm the one that recommended SafeBeard, I'm the one

[1:17:37] that recommended ITB third-party and I see the inefficiencies because I own my own business

[1:17:43] and I try to be as efficient as possible because it comes out of my pocket.

[1:17:45] it. And that's why we have gone out for a VA at the KCDC and I'll tell you my

[1:17:52] reasoning behind that is I have seen this board right here change and the

[1:17:56] thought process of this board change which is fine because the people vote and

[1:18:00] different people come up here with different ideas and I think it's a great

[1:18:02] for local communities. I don't have a problem with that at all. At the same time I've

[1:18:06] seen KCDC have that same turnover and you just don't have any consistency and as

[1:18:11] As the president of KCDC, I went out and created a team of food and fun and played with it

[1:18:16] for like a month on the social media platform.

[1:18:19] And I think with Eculon, I ended up with 2.6 million views and a couple other ones

[1:18:22] I ended up with over a million views.

[1:18:25] So it's out there.

[1:18:26] I know it's out there.

[1:18:27] It's just a matter of who we don't have the staff to do it.

[1:18:30] I know that.

[1:18:31] So, how could we, and that's when we started having conversations about virtual assistance

[1:18:35] because a lot of us are using them in our personal businesses because they do make you

[1:18:39] way more effective and I got several friends that wake up to a calendar every day on what

[1:18:43] they're supposed to do at 8 o'clock and what they're supposed to do at 9.30 and when

[1:18:46] they're going to eat lunch, I'm like, that's just what the virtual assistant does for

[1:18:49] them.

[1:18:50] And I think that's the consistency piece that KCDC and the city needs because names and faces

[1:18:56] change on both bodies so quickly, there's no consistency.

[1:18:59] If we could get some consistency and stay with it and I've done research on the state level,

[1:19:04] We can't individually look at businesses on a personal basis, but me and Devon were talking about yesterday

[1:19:11] We can put them in groups and then spotlight a business

[1:19:14] So we can do like all the breakfasts the place of patrons of tormento or a coffee and then once a day or once a week we do

[1:19:23] Spotlight and then we would be within the guidelines and the VA wouldn't give us in trouble because we were

[1:19:27] We're out of time, kind of like they do the Crawford Box.

[1:19:31] Boardwalk one actually puts me into that.

[1:19:33] Virtual assistant.

[1:19:34] Virtual.

[1:19:35] He's got all of his institutions are set up up there.

[1:19:39] I mean, it's same concept, just do it where, but we

[1:19:42] ought to have that consistency at one point.

[1:19:44] We're going to have to say consistent for advertising to be

[1:19:46] effective because we just keep throwing money away because

[1:19:50] we're never consistent with the same idea or same concept

[1:19:52] long enough, like they've said, to be effective.

[1:19:55] Because I used to own card dealerships.

[1:19:57] He's just been a half million dollars a year at one store.

[1:20:00] But we were consistent. I mean, it was always consistent and you didn't see results like they said the first year. Usually took 18 months to 24 months when you changed your true campaign to really see the effects of it. So, I mean, these bodies changed you fast. I mean, the initiatives changed. There's a road that needs to be done. So there's $2 million a song to a road and we don't want to have a lot of, you know, marketing money. So, I mean, I think you see that run alike too. They don't see the benefits of it and that new body doesn't see the benefits of it, so they trash it. And then you have to wait for the next cycle and the next group says, yeah, we'll jump back on board.

[1:20:30] I think we're never going to get there collectively as a group because there's just too many hands of the basket.

[1:20:37] One way and Devon, you can certainly lean into this.

[1:20:41] But if you thought of the marketing strategy and the consistency

[1:20:45] and if getting people around the lake is the challenge, then what part of that could we own?

[1:20:51] And if you integrate AI and you had your editorial calendar

[1:20:55] and then we had the video clips and talking about the work on KCDC with the business alliance.

[1:21:03] So if we pulled in different aspects of what we've been working on, and you can certainly

[1:21:10] speak to this, I think there's a way to utilize whether it's Claude, or Anthropic, or Chat,

[1:21:17] and we might need to pay a higher subscription, but creating those files and then having your

[1:21:23] editorial calendar that's triggering those different platforms. Now we may need to get

[1:21:30] someone in the Philippines or somewhere to be the one doing that and have a virtual assistant

[1:21:37] who's helping on that but there is a way to make that not so cost heavy and to go the distance

[1:21:47] and decides strategically it's a three-year commitment and this is the theme

[1:21:54] and the category and the focus. So I mean I do think it's worth looking into I

[1:21:59] don't think we need to go broke doing it. And if we're having to talk people into

[1:22:04] playing with us and that's where the pain point and the inconsistency is, then

[1:22:09] I'm like let's figure out how to do it for us.

[1:22:15] I like to stay in my will house so when we start talking about the numbers, I'm all in

[1:22:21] it, but I defer to those who have the expertise and the mayor, the new Councilman for my

[1:22:29] will.

[1:22:30] That's all I have to say.

[1:22:33] I want to keep us on task as we're starting strap plan 11, Devon?

[1:22:37] Just really quickly, I guess, just offer a little bit of my insight in what I've been seeing so far.

[1:22:45] Just for those that aren't familiar, my background is economic development.

[1:22:48] And so economic development marketing is a little different than tourism marketing.

[1:22:54] And then I've been accused of being a new age economic developer.

[1:22:57] But my philosophy is that everything is economic development and economic development is everything.

[1:23:01] And I think you take that approach when you apply it to tourism, especially with KEMA.

[1:23:07] If you look at KCDC and HOT, HOT you can spend on nine specific things.

[1:23:14] KCDC you get a little broader.

[1:23:16] But KEMA is in a unique situation where you start to look at it as what is one of our primary

[1:23:21] industry sectors.

[1:23:22] It's tourism.

[1:23:25] You know, one of the things that Caesar and I bonded over when we first met at a conference

[1:23:29] a couple of years ago is, and I've been railing against this for a long time, is I've worked

[1:23:36] for some of the other cities on the lake and in the region. I don't think there's enough

[1:23:41] marrying of the tourism aspect and the economic development aspect. There's not enough that

[1:23:49] I feel is done to market chema or the area for, what's the word I'm looking for. We do a lot

[1:23:56] of marketing to attractive visitors, but we don't do a lot of tourism marketing to attract

[1:24:02] tourism amenities. So, you know, amenities. So, you know, you have this situation where,

[1:24:09] you know, can we use hot funds to market opportunities for tourism development in KEMA?

[1:24:17] Then that's something that serves KCDC. Alternatively, is there something that KCDC can find locally

[1:24:24] like a restaurant week, or a shop local campaign, or a handful of small events a year that

[1:24:32] populate a calendar, then we can market that calendar around to show that there are

[1:24:37] things going on when you come to town.

[1:24:41] I have kind of drafted a marketing plan that I've kind of bounced off a couple of people,

[1:24:47] but the idea is instead of casting this broad net that I think we've done in the past

[1:24:53] We'll do some stuff with MDR, we'll do some stuff in USA today, we'll do some stuff in Texas highways.

[1:25:00] Print and blah, blah, blah. It's almost like you pick your campaigns and you basically lean into it. So if we do a fall campaign to start trying to boost, you know, offseason numbers. There's a company, AJR, that's very similar to MDR, they've reached out. They would basically handle the nuts and bolts of the marketing, we dictate the content, the theming, et cetera. But they're the ones kind of doing that on our behalf. It's, you know, a consultant.

[1:25:29] It's a marketing firm, but then there's other platforms that I've found where you can basically

[1:25:37] submit an RFP for influencers and say, hey, we're doing this fall theme on blank. We're looking

[1:25:43] for people that have this kind of tone, this kind of demographics, what they're following, and then

[1:25:49] we bring them in to participate in the events that we're doing the campaign for, and then we kind of

[1:25:57] build into it. So instead of doing this shotgun approach, it's basically picking two to three campaigns a year and really honing in on, you know,

[1:26:06] let's say we decided to do a chemo food and wine festival.

[1:26:11] We campaign that we have all these opportunities to do that, but then we also have someone come in and participate in that festival,

[1:26:18] and then generate a bunch of content that gets us exposure after the festival, but then provides marketing materials for us to market the next years.

[1:26:29] So that's just kind of the approach that I'm kind of,

[1:26:34] what's the word I'm looking for, it's kind of like my instinct.

[1:26:37] When I look at all the things that we've got going on here is, you know,

[1:26:39] you can kind of marry some of the funding streams here where we can use tourism

[1:26:45] marketing to help attract new businesses for KCDC.

[1:26:48] We can use KCDC to help establish campaigns that benefit marketing,

[1:26:54] but just tying it all together.

[1:27:40] Yeah.

[1:28:08] Any

[1:28:44] other stuff?

[1:28:47] Thanks.

[1:28:48] If we can transition then to events.

[1:28:52] Feedback on events that we've had throughout the city.

[1:28:54] What is your feedback on events?

[1:28:56] What can we do better?

[1:28:57] What can we do more of?

[1:28:58] What can we do less of?

[1:29:00] Is there any content or anything we can have on that end?

[1:29:04] Because right now, as far as the city's events are concerned,

[1:29:07] I'll go backwards, I guess.

[1:29:08] We've got pancakes with Santa.

[1:29:10] We've got lighting in the Christmas tree.

[1:29:11] We have the Halloween event, we have National night out, we have Fourth of July and Easter.

[1:29:17] What?

[1:29:17] I think we're in Fourth of July, Easter.

[1:29:21] You have Monning, Grupp, Hurray.

[1:29:22] Right.

[1:29:23] So as we're doing that, those are our core of events, not including the ones that we sponsor

[1:29:30] or held in the city by other entities, whatever the case is.

[1:29:33] How do we feel about events more or less, focus more on some, less on others, what's the overall

[1:29:39] direction on that?

[1:29:40] But it's almost been like, well, we've always done this way and we've kind of tried to

[1:29:43] more fit it, make it better, whatever the case is.

[1:29:51] It ties to communication events and marketing, that's why I think it's a segue.

[1:29:55] I think some of the events that the city should...

[1:30:00] There's a few legacy events, I think, should stay, and I think there's some that should, this body should really listen to staff of whether it's worth doing or not as a city. It doesn't mean we can't sponsor it, it doesn't mean we can't help an organizer do it.

[1:30:17] I think the Easter eggs with the kids is a great event. I also know that it is an incredibly heavy lift for staff to pull off every year on top of everything else.

[1:30:27] So when you talk staff, it's me, I'm the one that does it, I'm one person.

[1:30:33] You know, so, you know, I think we need to figure out ways that if we're going to do them to lighten the load a little bit on staff.

[1:30:45] You know, whether it's, you know, and the Lions Club is incredibly involved, don't get me wrong, not, you know, we have a partnership with them, but, you know, I think we need to find more help for some of these events.

[1:30:56] and I don't want to cancel events that's not what I'm advocating. I just I think some of them

[1:31:02] Might not be worth the lift doing it as city staff. That's

[1:31:09] and we should probably do the marty the 4th of July parade

[1:31:12] At a different time, but that's gonna get me that's gonna give me absolutely eviscerated, but there you go

[1:31:18] It's all around

[1:31:19] The only thing I would like to say is that and I do appreciate I've been volunteering like with Easter

[1:31:26] from I think from day one when you when you when you came to the city.

[1:31:34] Some bigger

[1:31:35] some way to really move the needle on that volunteer committee. So we have we do

[1:31:49] have Dan and now she does she helps as much as she can but still when you have me

[1:31:56] and Devon is trying to help too.

[1:31:58] When we're the only two that ever volunteer to do anything out of all the employees.

[1:32:04] I'm talking about citizens.

[1:32:05] I'm not talking about-

[1:32:06] Okay, we've tried it with citizens.

[1:32:08] You know I've tried it with citizens, I've put it out there.

[1:32:11] They're all gung ho.

[1:32:12] And when it comes down to it, it's a ghost town.

[1:32:16] And Kathy, have you have shown up?

[1:32:19] Ms. Sylvie has shown up.

[1:32:22] Every now and then, I can get some of the lines, Club, you know, they'll try and show up.

[1:32:27] but we need the youth to get out there and help us.

[1:32:31] Fourth of July, I'm not supposed to be in the heat,

[1:32:34] but I'm out there every year.

[1:32:35] Fourth of July, helping.

[1:32:37] I had several seizures that me several people

[1:32:40] that wanted to help.

[1:32:41] I'd email them back.

[1:32:42] Oh, we're gonna be there.

[1:32:44] Anybody showed.

[1:32:45] And they all have, and it's good intentions,

[1:32:48] but you also gotta realize,

[1:32:50] Fourth of July, they have their own family with plans.

[1:32:54] And a lot of that's not wanting to go out there

[1:32:56] in, you know, help. So it's just, we have 40 employees. It's not like we're

[1:33:05] Texas City or Friendswood or Webster where you have, and Lake City, all these

[1:33:09] employees that can help. So along those lines, you know, we've had some

[1:33:17] discussions on events here and there. If we were to consolidate or to merge some

[1:33:21] of those, which ones do you think would be the one that we'd be eyeing to merge?

[1:33:25] because we have some thoughts, but I'd like to get y'all's input on that. You first.

[1:33:31] Thank you.

[1:33:33] Okay.

[1:33:35] I might go down the rabbit hole with you, but you first.

[1:33:39] No, go ahead.

[1:33:42] Let's go in order.

[1:33:44] Easter is very popular.

[1:33:49] It is a labor of love.

[1:33:50] It is a long, long day, a lot of moving parts.

[1:33:55] I think it'd be hard because it's hard to eliminate a bit where there's another one around

[1:33:59] it.

[1:34:00] So, I would say the two that are closest to each other and throw things at me and Mr.

[1:34:04] if you want, you've got Halloween and National Night Out are within a short time frame of each

[1:34:10] other.

[1:34:11] Fourth of the lie is fourth of the lie, that's what it is.

[1:34:16] But I think it's probably that pancake with Santa and lighting of the Christmas tree.

[1:34:19] I think those are the two that are probably the biggest challenge because they're within

[1:34:25] what?

[1:34:26] Days of each other.

[1:34:29] And I think what we did last year with Lighting the Christmas Tree was kind of neat

[1:34:32] with closing the street and the bleachers and whatnot.

[1:34:37] I think that's probably the biggest challenge it is those.

[1:34:41] I think the pancake was saying is nice, but I think sometimes the parents think it's more

[1:34:44] for them than it is for the kids.

[1:34:47] I wish it was the way we could maybe more of those two.

[1:34:50] I don't know if that's the situation because the kids and before they go on Christmas break

[1:34:55] and the carolers and being a week night, not a weekend, because you know I'm never getting

[1:35:00] I get the carolers out there on that time, so we're open to suggestions on that. Well, if you combine the two, the pancakes with Santa and the lighting of the Chris tree, it doesn't have to be pancakes with Santa. It could be cookie making with Santa and lighting of the Christmas tree. So this year, I'd demonstrate me a person's phone number. I called to me yesterday. They do. I have snow over a year for pancakes with Santa. They actually go out there and do the snowballs. Kids love it, but there's also a company that

[1:35:28] out there now that it actually looks like snow falling, so you'd have to have both.

[1:35:34] But if you combined the both and have it as like a winter wonderland,

[1:35:39] you would still have the effect of the kids would have the snow.

[1:35:43] We'd still be doing the lighting of the Christmas tree.

[1:35:47] You know, it would all start around four or five in the evening.

[1:35:51] And it would work up to the big finale would be the lighting of the Christmas tree.

[1:35:55] We would still have the elementary schools here singing I have to get quotes this year on because we've got to have

[1:36:02] Chairs out there because people just standing out there that was a

[1:36:06] A lot of complaints last year the parents were where we supposed to sick is you realize I had 86 students

[1:36:13] 86 students if they at least had two parents there and then if the parents were divorced that made four

[1:36:19] You know separate parents and then siblings and the grandmothers and we had a big event

[1:36:25] last year. And I think if we combine the two, I think it would really turn into something.

[1:36:32] Plus, we have the market out there also.

[1:36:34] I think you could combine those. And maybe it's not even an activity. Maybe it's, here's

[1:36:44] cookies and hot chocolate under this tin.

[1:36:46] Exactly.

[1:36:46] kids, and you can go set on Santa's lap for these hours. Form a line, take a picture,

[1:36:54] top thing.

[1:36:58] I think we could definitely combine those and take a little stress and

[1:37:04] relieve staff a bit. And I think also, for me, I'm always going to think about budget wise,

[1:37:11] it's also, we can probably put more money into one and then not be

[1:37:15] there and still be a saving. So I think it allows us the opportunity to be able to

[1:37:19] to actually do that. So I would I would appreciate looking at that and and here's the beauty of it.

[1:37:27] That's what we'll do for 2046. But if it doesn't work, we don't like it. We can change it.

[1:37:31] I'll listen to that. You know, go back and change something different. But I think it allows us to be able to do some

[1:37:36] different stuff. I think the conversation you have on the lines, Club 2 though, because they are

[1:37:42] But they also do the cookies for the line of the history.

[1:37:46] I know it's a big fundraiser, but one of their big pushes for the year is volunteer,

[1:37:51] because they've got some of the hours they're supposed to do as an organization.

[1:37:54] Absolutely.

[1:37:55] This would be a much longer conversation.

[1:37:57] We wanted to get a poll from you guys to try to have that conversation with them next and go for that.

[1:38:02] It might have started being made for pancakes this year, so it may not be able to be done for this year.

[1:38:07] So we'll see what we do sorry about that going back to the national night out. Yes. Okay. I'm new to this council

[1:38:14] But what did the city do for with it? Oh, man. We was big. We we we arguably argued it was probably one of our biggest events

[1:38:23] Yeah, it's one of the things we've been handled several different ways all in one location versus

[1:38:29] The police going to different entities around the city. Well, the only reason I'm asking is my new

[1:38:35] part of the manager is saying she's going to handle everything and one thing she mentioned was

[1:38:41] National Night Out. So we could do National Night Out in several different ways but basically what

[1:38:46] it is it's a way for public service and specifically police to have an evening or some time with the

[1:38:55] residents in a very neutral calm fun setting. This past year we converted the city parking lot into a

[1:39:02] huge interactive location we had a market we had handouts and we had the vehicles

[1:39:11] out there and kids could come out and and partake and we had popcorn and

[1:39:15] bubbles and I mean it was something where it allows people to come out and have

[1:39:22] that partnership with PD in a nice neutral setting. I will say one of the things

[1:39:32] You know, the actual meals or what was it we called it with chema?

[1:39:39] Um, that we talked about doing with Tony, we're all the restaurants had the samples.

[1:39:44] Yeah, I know what you're tasting chema.

[1:39:46] Taste of chema, thank you.

[1:39:47] So we had a taste of chema, if you will, it was the intent to have a taste of chema the

[1:39:51] same night.

[1:39:52] So now you're getting the restaurants to come out and partake in that environment where

[1:39:56] you can get the word out for them.

[1:39:58] So we talk about marketing, finding your demographics.

[1:40:00] We'll come out and come meet the community as well. Come to the community and set the community coming to you. So those are the type of things that are also kind of a KCDC initiative because we're getting the businesses out as well. And it was a way to do and kind of two for one, if you will. But that's what we did last year. That seemed to work pretty well. I was used to the old way of, all right, we're going to hop in a caravan. We're going to go and go visit chemo, HWA. We're going to go visit the Huntington.

[1:40:29] and we're going to go, you know, Bay off of Bay

[1:40:32] and whatever those locations would be

[1:40:34] and we're going to go have that conversation.

[1:40:36] But there's also smaller ones, you know.

[1:40:39] You know, in a previous city, we did garage gaps

[1:40:40] where we just said, hey, first Tuesday of the month,

[1:40:44] we're going to go meet in, you know, someone's garage

[1:40:46] and we're going to rotate that amongst the places.

[1:40:48] Hey, neighbors, come invite people to your house

[1:40:49] to do those.

[1:40:50] It doesn't have to be these bigger, different things.

[1:40:53] We call those garage gaps because we brought government

[1:40:56] to the residents.

[1:40:56] So, a lot of things we can do, I'm going to get absolutely flamed for this.

[1:41:03] Miss Sylvia may show up and slap me when she finds out I said it, it's okay.

[1:41:07] I really, really think staff needs to explore, move in the 4th of July parade to a different

[1:41:13] day, to like the day before.

[1:41:17] It's not that unheard of, there are places that do it, there are going to be people that

[1:41:22] abs, I don't know, they may come at my house, but that's fine.

[1:41:25] Every time we have tried to move that right, it is gone viral in opposition.

[1:41:32] Yeah, I'm going to get it for saying it.

[1:41:38] There's just not very many.

[1:41:40] I don't think most of the residents understand just how grueling that day is for staff.

[1:41:49] I mean, I get paid by my day job to stand out there all day, so that's just what it is.

[1:41:54] I can't escape it, but I think asking staff to be there at the crack of dawn, to then

[1:42:02] deal with the chaos of the parade and the roul and the timing and we fight about that

[1:42:07] every year to get them out of the way because it's the business day of the year.

[1:42:11] And then you're there all night and doing all of the worst traffic day of the year arguably,

[1:42:16] you know, some New Year's Eve's are worse, but I just really think it needs to be explored.

[1:42:22] So it's hard for me to, I don't like asking staff to do that, I just really don't, and they do it, and they put a smile on their face, and they suffer through it with the businesses in the district, but I just, I think there's a more efficient way to go about it.

[1:42:42] When I lived in Alexander, we had a little old gentleman who ran an Irish club and he brought

[1:42:50] us to the world that his St. Paddy's Day parade was the first in the country.

[1:42:57] So every first weekend in March, he would be the grand leprechaun, so to speak, and he'd

[1:43:06] riding in the parade just enjoying it, up in the morning to you know like that. And we got help

[1:43:13] from the different neighbors or the different organizations around the businesses. And he got

[1:43:20] by with it, he did a lot of broadcasting, his restaurant contributed it. And when you show where he's

[1:43:29] Saturday, but you know, we could, we could possibly do something like that, but a little

[1:43:34] more organized way. I mean, I may say I understand what you're saying, because it, I couldn't

[1:43:42] miss, I had another obligation on the floor, but the idea is it can be done.

[1:43:49] Well, this year is one of those years that we might want to institute that. Fourth of

[1:43:53] live this year this next year is going to be on a Sunday. So that's going to make things

[1:43:58] interesting. And maybe also a lower turnout, it's not going to be the 250th. It's a Sunday

[1:44:06] which is usually church time in the morning is going to conflict with that. So maybe this

[1:44:09] would be the year that we attempt to do that. And we could try that. And I think it's a

[1:44:13] fair shot to do that. So it sounds to me like there's a post to possibly try to do that.

[1:44:18] I will, I will still hopefully use my, I'm still new here, I didn't know, uh, uh,

[1:44:25] and Charm on the head over very well, um, but, but it's just a thought, it's just a thought.

[1:44:29] I see, though, from a golf cart standpoint, it is, is if we're going to do a golf cart

[1:44:32] event, I think it really needs to be and can conglomerate with clear, like, shores, because

[1:44:37] people do put a lot of effort, and I think people would put even more effort if it was

[1:44:41] a bigger thing that you actually participated in, and I think you can make it an all day

[1:44:46] a fair home. They did the scavenger hunt from Jackie's and they had I think a hundred participants.

[1:44:52] A lot of golf carts. So I mean I think the appetite is there between the island and here.

[1:44:57] It's just a matter of somebody organizing that and making it fun.

[1:45:00] I think for everybody on the island, they could be, you know, kind of like east of west, like short water wars. Maybe it's the golf cart wars between the two or, you know, decorating, there's some sort of competitive because most cities are very competitive. So, I mean, I think you'd see a lot more effort put into it because there's a few of us that do a lot. I mean, it takes hours to do it. It's not like you just go out there and put a couple of balloons on it. So, I mean, and I think where people would be more interested in it, if it was a bigger event,

[1:45:28] And last a little longer than 30 minutes and then you go home and take all the stuff off your golf cart

[1:45:32] I'm like it just doesn't make a whole lot of sense to go all out elaborately for just, you know, half-mile

[1:45:39] I'll be rude, but that's kind of where we stand

[1:45:41] That would be something for both cities to talk about. I'm gonna throw this out here out there

[1:45:45] I think this is something it's on. I think this is something we need to get Deanne to do

[1:45:51] Because there's no way this staff can do that

[1:45:54] So maybe get her involved in like the parade, let her take the lead on that.

[1:45:59] As her Sam been to their Christmas and their Fourth of July.

[1:46:03] It's really nice to go all the way around the lake and it takes longer.

[1:46:08] And then they have the who caught Christmas where you pull up.

[1:46:13] I mean, they have a golf cart.

[1:46:15] But you can go on the bridge and you can make a deal out of it.

[1:46:17] And you can make a deal out of it.

[1:46:19] And then West Keema would actually have some sort of an event so if they wanted to participate

[1:46:23] you could do it down a certain route because we don't never do anything in West Keema.

[1:46:28] Because I think I like the fire department, WCA-12, they do the whole district.

[1:46:31] They don't just do Keema. They do the whole district when they do the same appeal.

[1:46:35] So I mean, you could use that golf carts go 12 to 15 miles on batteries and then gas of those 40 miles.

[1:46:42] So I'm like, so it's not like it's a push for all these golf carts to actually make that trip.

[1:46:46] So I think people would enjoy it if we figure out a way to tie it in because you're talking to a 300 golf cart probably

[1:46:52] Between the two entities

[1:46:55] Most of those people come over here, so I'm like participate in the chemo

[1:46:59] When Jackie was doing that golf cart run, it was extremely popular a lot of participation

[1:47:06] Oh, I didn't know this one. They had about a hundred participants. I know they had the accident

[1:47:10] I sort of say the accident is what

[1:47:12] Is it is it fairly easy to get from chema to clear like shores and back?

[1:47:19] Would it be worth doing something like one night would you chemo one night would you clear like shores and almost doing like a cruise in the coast?

[1:47:25] But it's just golf carts. Definitely can be something where people I think would decorate the golf carts if you had something to do with them because we come over

[1:47:33] For an hour and then we go on

[1:47:43] Santa excursion because of the new addition and population we have.

[1:47:48] Well, Jerry, Devon, sounds like we've been challenged.

[1:47:53] So we will, as in the spirit of what we always do,

[1:47:57] we will definitely step up to the challenge.

[1:48:00] Real quick, I want to go over just a few of the departments.

[1:48:02] Devon, thank you.

[1:48:03] Jerry, you guys are always welcome to stick around.

[1:48:05] Very quickly.

[1:48:06] Thank you for the efforts on the website.

[1:48:08] You've been very responsive to.

[1:48:10] I'll give them a pass.

[1:48:12] Thank you.

[1:48:13] Real quick permitting.

[1:48:16] We have streamlined our efficiency of permitting.

[1:48:19] I think we're doing better at the point that some folks have

[1:48:23] even said that other cities should do some things

[1:48:25] that we do.

[1:48:26] Our pre-development meetings that we have consistently

[1:48:28] are a pretty big hit.

[1:48:30] And it has turned out to people getting their permits faster.

[1:48:33] So that is something that I'm proud of, so for NOLA and the

[1:48:37] a contractor that she worked with, so we're happy about that.

[1:48:41] There's a lot of dust throughout the city, guys.

[1:48:43] There's a lot.

[1:48:43] You've got every corner of the city,

[1:48:45] there's literally every corner of the city

[1:48:46] between the boardwalk with the water slide or park.

[1:48:50] You've got the hotel going on down the street,

[1:48:53] you've got the Coda on that end,

[1:48:54] you've got the Marine on the other end.

[1:48:55] So every corner of the city in the end of the between,

[1:48:57] you've got the car wash and things going up.

[1:48:59] There's things that are happening.

[1:49:00] So exciting times for us, but on permitting,

[1:49:03] that's pretty much all I have.

[1:49:06] We talked about events, we talked about everything that we're pushing forward, and we want to continue that spirit moving forward.

[1:49:13] KCDC had some great discussion, I'd like to go over that if we have time maybe after lunch to kind of go over the direction with them here as to where we're doing together.

[1:49:22] But real quick, public works, there is a lot of space that this team maintains.

[1:49:31] last night when we went to the KCDC board, we went to the board and even requested a possibility of adding more staff or a half a staff member halfway through the year.

[1:49:41] I see the look in the guys eyes at this time of year and they're just trying to pull through until the heat kind of wears down a little bit.

[1:49:48] But they've taken on a very, very big project with this tree project. I'm happy to report that all but to the trees that we were planning are planted.

[1:49:54] And as we speak, I've been talking on the contract before getting here all morning, there's

[1:50:00] 18 additional very, very large trees that are going in between yesterday, today, tomorrow, and hopefully will be done by Thursday. So the tree project will be done last night. And then tonight, obviously with your action, we'll move forward with the rest of that project. So that project is moving swiftly. So kudos to our public works. The equipment is being being used. We're getting the county to help us with some of these drainage projects. But the pump station still a challenge.

[1:50:27] We're probably going to look into that robotic mower here soon, but I think at some point there's only certain efficiencies you can have.

[1:50:35] Autonomous would be probably the next most efficient thing that we could look to add here in the future.

[1:50:40] And see we could company that with what we pay for mowing versus doing some of that in house and whatever the cases.

[1:50:46] So that's going to be the study and the focus of that department for this year to see what we can do to bring forward in the next year.

[1:50:51] but definitely made a lot of strides, increased efficiency, and the city overall looks good.

[1:50:55] There's some spots that we've taken over from TechStyte that need a little help,

[1:50:59] and we need to hold TechStyte to an extent. I'm going to say that I'm going to, like you said,

[1:51:05] a second ago someone's going to throw something at me, but holding TechStyte accountable is difficult.

[1:51:11] But exciting things happening. You've got your belt ramps going to be

[1:51:15] letting in January, so your eco-tourism is almost in full effect between the

[1:51:21] guest or center, 57-acre park, your linear park, and then culminating over at the

[1:51:27] boat ramp, you're going to have a total different look and feel to the city

[1:51:31] where it's not just a boardwalk, right? Eco-tourism is a real thing, and I think

[1:51:36] we're going to be the epicenter of that for the entire region with all the

[1:51:39] things that we're going to have to offer. So excited about that, excited about the

[1:51:42] work that the team is doing and what public work is doing on that end.

[1:51:46] To that extent, speaking of public works, we have had a member of our public work team

[1:51:52] go through some code enforcement training.

[1:51:55] We are trying to ease the burden on the expenses that we have with code enforcement because

[1:52:00] obviously we're only budgeted to have them only a certain amount of time.

[1:52:03] So we're increasing our efficiency in that and getting through some code things we haven't

[1:52:07] gotten to in a while.

[1:52:08] I want to praise, there's been some residents that have brought some things to us that want

[1:52:11] things that we had noticed, things that they thought we had not noticed, and we went on a ride along we had fixed, and things that

[1:52:18] just need to be fixed. So we're working on them and we're excited about that. You've got some places that have been negligent for a while that

[1:52:26] have been addressed and some others that are going to be addressed soon. So I know that that was Aaron's number one task that he left me when he left

[1:52:35] was code enforcement, I guess was the number one priority at the time for the drive of the council. So we're excited to see what we're going to be

[1:52:40] moving forward. We're excited as to what that could mean for the

[1:52:44] betterment of the team. And what it is that we want to see for that

[1:52:49] objective from public works. Between Hurricane Preparedness, the

[1:52:54] service that Derry's office did with the public works staff, PD and

[1:52:58] fire took part in. We're excited that direction that we're going in

[1:53:01] as far as public works is concerned. A lot of training is taking place, so

[1:53:06] we're being as efficient as we possibly can right now on that side

[1:53:08] things. Looking at the time, the only other one that I have is budget before we break. This

[1:53:17] year, we'll talk about it more during budget workshops, so that's not too much of a need

[1:53:21] to go through here. But I want to find out if they're still the appetite to continue

[1:53:26] dropping property tax. It's important for me to know if that's what we're still driving towards.

[1:53:31] I get the sentiment that it is, but anytime that one goes down, the other one has to go up.

[1:53:37] Otherwise, we're going to just cut the budget and that's a different story.

[1:53:40] So we've talked about Councilman Thorne brought up the roads initiative.

[1:53:47] I guess that's the best way that we can place that.

[1:53:51] There are a few roads in our city that we do have to address.

[1:53:54] We are aggressively going after grant funding.

[1:53:55] I had a ride along with somebody yesterday looking at some possibilities of some grants.

[1:54:00] So we are attacking these things.

[1:54:02] we are attacking the CIP, but budget wise is the drive in the intent still, and I don't

[1:54:09] want to take the thunderway from what Ryan's worked on for this afternoon, is there still

[1:54:13] an intent for us to continue dropping property tax?

[1:54:16] I just have a question in being new to this.

[1:54:20] I don't understand the drive to drop property tax when we have costs going up and we have

[1:54:26] police force that's not paid at a competitive level.

[1:54:30] So, just from an intellectual standpoint, I don't understand how we're going to make that work at some point.

[1:54:39] So, great question, and very fair we have not had our one-on-one yet, but property tax has historically been something where the state itself is on a mission or an approach to eliminate property tax.

[1:54:56] That is something that the state has been very adamant about.

[1:54:58] We're

[1:55:00] We're locally in a better shape than other cities are because our sales tax is so much more than our property tax. We have other cities that it's the other way around. So for us, we're in advance when it comes to that.

[1:55:15] The drive is because of how expensive things have become. So that's where the tear happens, right? There's staff pay, and we need this, and this hasn't been repaired in forever, and the buildings falling apart in whatever the case is, versus, hey, we're all hurting.

[1:55:31] economy's hurting, it is what it is. So that's the tug and pull that we have. And that's why I need

[1:55:39] direction. It's a bigger picture, though. And I think you got to look at it from a way 300 mile

[1:55:46] umbrella approach because, and that's what I look at is because we've been adding residents that

[1:55:50] have record pace for our size of our town. So there's a lot of mechanisms to what's going on. We

[1:55:56] still have the decodas that are going to come on board. That's going to bring another 250,

[1:55:59] the, well, probably 400 people to town, 230 rooms to say.

[1:56:04] So, and if you figure it out,

[1:56:06] then that's going to end up being $50 a person mathematically

[1:56:09] to our budget indirectly, probably.

[1:56:12] There's more than that per person at a national level,

[1:56:15] but I mean, someone's going to get a league city

[1:56:16] because of HGB and Crogor being right down the street

[1:56:18] and we're not going to capture 100% of the sales tax

[1:56:21] that's generated out that complex.

[1:56:23] But that's coming to a halt.

[1:56:24] I'm like, the water board is running out of water,

[1:56:27] and we don't have water, so my development's done.

[1:56:29] And so this might be the last time we see property tax decreases because we've seen growth and that growth is coming to an end because we don't have water.

[1:56:37] And that's just something I can't control on the side of the board.

[1:56:41] We have the capacity but it's stuck at 517. I can't push it this forward and they don't have the pump station to push the pressure to it.

[1:56:48] So I have developers calling me that I'm just telling them to like figure out my water issue.

[1:56:52] I can't do anything for you. So in essence, yes, we do have capacity, but we don't have it in town where it's needed.

[1:56:58] So until the water board figures out their problems, then we're probably going to see a tax increase moving forward in my opinion because the growth of marriage came across.

[1:57:09] It's coming to an end.

[1:57:11] You're going to see Dakota in this next year.

[1:57:13] I mean, I think they're going to start pre-leasing in October, so we'll start seeing the effects in this next budget in the following year.

[1:57:19] But I mean, after that, we don't have anything on the drawing board to start gravitating to start reducing taxes.

[1:57:26] I mean, that's just what I foresee, and it's probably another board that has to deal with it.

[1:57:32] But I mean, at the same time, I mean, everybody's being aware of what's coming down the road

[1:57:35] because we've been very blessed with the growth that we've had and it's allowed us to do what

[1:57:41] we've done. But at the same time, that's stopping. It's a train. I mean, I look at it like Leak City.

[1:57:48] Leak City keeps growing. They reduce taxes or say they don't reduce taxes. This budget cycle,

[1:57:53] But you go to Oak Ridge on the north side of Houston they have no growth and with what the state did when changing laws and regulations

[1:58:00] They're talking about a 9% increase in taxes

[1:58:03] Same size cities pretty much, but they don't have any growth. They don't have anywhere to grow that business

[1:58:08] So they're having to raise taxes. So either growing or you're gonna be raising your tax base because nothing's getting cheaper

[1:58:15] And we're the

[1:58:16] Unless I'm mistaken, the third lowest tax rate in the county is pretty good, so I was counting.

[1:58:21] And I agree, I see a lot of that coming work to a slow down or an end over there, and I just, I don't think that would continue, you know.

[1:58:32] Well, definitely tough decisions ahead, but I wanted to equate.

[1:58:35] Again, having a smaller budget and so much help from sales tax for the sake of, let's call it a penny, okay.

[1:58:42] Okay, last year we were at $19.99, so call it $0.20.

[1:58:49] The approximate cost of a penny was $80,000.

[1:58:53] So if we would have gone up or down to penny, it would have affected the bottom line of the

[1:58:57] budget by $80,000.

[1:58:58] So when you think about that in respect to a $7 million budget, the cost of the penny last

[1:59:03] year was about $80,000.

[1:59:04] We haven't calculated that this year because we're not done yet and we're not final.

[1:59:08] Hopefully by this afternoon when we have our budget workshop, we will be, but just so

[1:59:11] you kind of have a perspective of what that penny is. My concern just from when I did

[1:59:16] the initial overview and looking at it, it just doesn't make sense to me that we're

[1:59:22] not going up on property tax. And part of that is, is when you look at reserve, there's

[1:59:32] not a lot there. And so if something happens, and there's a need, whether it's a road repair

[1:59:40] or anything. There's just not that question. Another eye, you know, just annihilated this town and thank goodness

[1:59:49] somebody could have restaurant in in 90 days, you know, after that happened and kind of gave hope to the whole environment.

[2:00:00] We are here in the city. You know, people are just trying to recover, and they see that, and they're like, oh, we will survive this. And we did. But another one of those, and it will happen. I don't know who's lifetime or how good it is. And it reserves have always been important to me. And when they're not there, it's kind of scary.

[2:00:26] Well, you've got sound

[2:00:29] finances in the fact that you have no debt.

[2:00:31] Absolutely.

[2:00:32] You've got, you know, that's not common.

[2:00:36] Six months reserves.

[2:00:37] I mean, we're financially healthy as probably.

[2:00:40] We're probably in a 95% tall top.

[2:00:42] How would you agree with Darren?

[2:00:44] With no debt and having the ability to pay our bills

[2:00:47] for six months with no income coming out at all.

[2:00:50] And you know.

[2:00:50] There's not a city set in the position we're setting.

[2:00:52] When we were talking earlier about the police department

[2:00:54] and when their equipment needed updating and their vehicles to get counsel some years ago,

[2:01:04] and I want to, you were here, four or five years ago, when this happened, to go to leasing

[2:01:11] vehicles.

[2:01:12] It was a major, you know, because all councils prior to that was, you pay cash for everything,

[2:01:19] And then when you took the maintenance bills on all those vehicles and just continue to try to fix them when their life, their better life quality has already passed.

[2:01:31] It just didn't make me sense anymore, but I remember the night council decided to do that in that budget cycle.

[2:01:37] I was like, wow, we have maintenance with these vehicles.

[2:01:41] that can get replaced and cycle down and the officers will be safer that can give more value to the entire, you know, safety of the public at this point.

[2:01:52] It was a domino effect in my opinion. That was a huge, huge stepping stone for council at that time.

[2:02:00] It had been unheard of in this town to finance anything.

[2:02:18] I don't think that that's a common knowledge, and those are opportunities for I believe

[2:02:27] to be the city to talk to the citizens and businesses about the soundness of Kemer.

[2:02:35] That's a good point.

[2:02:37] Well, I did want us to have a moment to have a break to transition to grab a bite.

[2:02:41] I see two members of KCDC have already arrived.

[2:02:44] What I'd like to do is kind of change the setting a little bit.

[2:02:48] I think the folks will be here soon, so we'll get this going and get this thing started.

[2:02:53] And if we could take a break, that's okay.

[2:03:14] I want to make it more interactive so what I'm thinking is put a chair here in a chair there

[2:03:22] I think there's only going to be five, six, two, how many of you are coming so I'm

[2:03:31] trying to get to? Yeah, I'm trying to find out how many of you are coming from KCDC so I can get

[2:03:36] the chairs to ask him and he's asking himself. I'll have to do myself. I'm talking out loud. I'm sorry.

[2:03:42] Don't mind me guys. I'm on zero sleep. Hey, I'll worry.

[2:03:48] Yeah, we can sit on either side. We have some folks

[2:03:51] sit here. I'd like to have KCDC sitting here so we can have almost like a round table type thing.

[2:03:56] Could you put these two chairs one on this side one on that side?

[2:04:00] Yeah, yeah, I think that's a good idea.

[2:04:02] Thank you.

[2:04:03] Oh,

[2:04:08] and then?

[2:04:10] No.

[2:04:10] What I need is some food and some talent.

[2:04:13] I need some food and some talent.

[2:04:15] Do you have talent?

[2:04:16] Yeah, I got some yet.

[2:04:17] What happened there?

[2:04:19] Oh, I wish I had good enough.

[2:04:22] It's used like that.

[2:04:34] Okay, so there's a spot next to my left, I could also move, I have no problem, so there's a spot to my right, so these two seats are open, there's a seat there, or Jerry sitting there, so what we'll make do, where are we going to come to?

[2:04:57] Natasha is the city secretary she's sitting

[2:05:04] Let's make sure we get everybody a chance to get their food and get situated. I think we got enough food for you guys. So you guys want to come back. We'll have a working lunch.

[2:05:16] Right there. Can we do a tear right here on this end? Yeah. Yeah. I love. Hey, there you go. Hey, how are you?

[2:05:42] What I was going to say was do you need an easel I have a dry erase board.

[2:05:46] That easel would be great okay I will grab it hey Devon could you grab the easel from the

[2:05:51] back in the conference room if you want dry erase to or no okay no I'm saying I have

[2:06:04] So, if you just, there's an easel that has some of this paper on it and I grab that, I have this thing in markers, if you need more colors markers.

[2:06:10] Okay, I got it. I'll go grab it.

[2:06:12] I love them.

[2:06:13] Yeah.

[2:06:18] Well, she's, and she's not going, I mean, she's short.

[2:06:22] No, no, she's, she's, she's active, she wants to do something.

[2:06:26] Okay.

[2:06:27] I would love that.

[2:08:33] It's better than, yeah, I think it's easy, but it's amazing.

[2:08:39] All they have, I'm sorry, you're having a little, maybe that's the way it's worked

[2:08:56] out.

[2:08:56] Then you would see, not sure what I see in the country.

[2:08:59] But that was, you

[2:09:09] know, well, I think it was really funny, but I'm very happy.

[2:12:22] He was at my house on a Friday night and passed away on Monday.

[2:12:31] He had it at one of the restaurants here in town and bought it and had it placed in here because it was too big for his house.

[2:14:58] That was a little boy.

[2:19:46] I hope that they can make it worse.

[2:19:51] In the meantime, I wanted to talk about a joint KCDC project that we have. Obviously, with the city support to launch-

[2:20:00] A strategic plan. The idea is to make it a 2040 plan because you have to have enough of a runway to try to make these things possible, being that we try to start this in 2025.

[2:20:13] The general idea put on R&P, the collaborative was selected, they've already met with staff,

[2:20:20] gotten staff notes on that.

[2:20:22] Next step was to meet with these two bodies so we want to be as efficient as possible

[2:20:26] but also because it allows for idea sharing to occur between both entities.

[2:20:33] But then after that we will start the public side of this thing which is having the public

[2:20:38] meetings to get there and put as well.

[2:20:39] So I would like to yield this time for this joint meeting to take place and then we can go from there

[2:20:47] We're taking the meeting.

[2:20:52] Thank you all for your time. My name is all on with that. I'm sorry. I might have to open we have to open up KCDC

[2:21:00] To this adjoin workshop. Do we have to open up KCDC separate? I don't think so

[2:21:24] Push the button

[2:21:28] Thank you all for your time.

[2:21:29] My name is Kave, I'm the architectural practice leader and principal at Collaborate Architects.

[2:21:35] Happy to be here today to give this presentation on the strategic plan.

[2:21:40] My colleagues, Dwayne Mallard and Miguel is here, project manager and project planner with

[2:21:47] Collaborate Architects and Dwayne will be giving the bulk of the presentation, but I wanted

[2:21:51] to say that we're grateful to be here and it's nice to meet you all in person finally.

[2:21:55] I've been kept the prize of the project internally between Chris and Dwayne and Miguel and I'm excited to go over this analysis with you guys today.

[2:22:10] So as Caesar said, we've met with your staff before and with Caesar to gather notes and gather information as you can see there.

[2:22:18] The picture on there is Richard who took us through some of the maintenance and public works issues.

[2:22:26] But what we want to do today, and we've also been collecting information, so what we want

[2:22:31] to do today is just go through this and see if you all have any additional comments or

[2:22:38] if you have additional information that we can incorporate into the presentation.

[2:22:44] So as Caesar was saying, the next steps will be today we're meeting with y'all to go over

[2:22:53] this to just again get your feedback but then from here at some point down the

[2:22:58] line a few weeks we'll be having public meetings town hall work sessions that

[2:23:04] get input from the public so that we can incorporate that to make sure that we've

[2:23:10] got all the information input from the entire as much of the town and the city as

[2:23:15] we can then eventually what that lead to is for us developing a report and you'll

[2:23:22] be getting an interim drafts, drafts or drafts of the report so that you can see the progress.

[2:23:28] And eventually there'll be a final draft report and then for y'all to review and incorporate

[2:23:34] any comments and then we'll produce the final report.

[2:23:37] And so that's where we are there.

[2:23:39] So, as

[2:23:43] you know, a lot of this, y'all already know but the, what we see here, the things

[2:23:50] that really stood out to us this boardwalk obviously with all the entertainment that goes

[2:23:55] with that lighthouse district which was basically places for people to come and for retail

[2:24:02] and restaurants and then information that I was not aware of is that before we started

[2:24:12] this is that Kima is the boating capital of Texas because of the size of the marine and the

[2:24:17] number of recreational vehicles here.

[2:24:19] The only one, all the things are listed on the right hand side.

[2:24:23] You already know, the only one that I'm going to mention is the second one.

[2:24:28] I brought my daughter down here several times, and it seems like that's the one thing she

[2:24:34] always lets do when we come down here when she was younger.

[2:24:37] So I've ridden that, the bullet several times, so I've gotten bumped around, gotten a few

[2:24:44] bruises on that thing.

[2:24:46] So, if you can go to the next slide.

[2:24:51] So this is hard to read, but it's a conceptual idea for the city of Kima.

[2:24:57] The thing that that...

[2:25:00] It jumps out at us, is that you've got State Highway 146 that runs down the middle, that right now could be a barrier to any sort of development, but what we're seeing it as an opportunity to develop into a linear park so that it connects all of these nodes, rather than there being all these nodes that are occurring within this city without any sort of connection. We see that as an opportunity to connect into that linear park that's running north and south along State Highway 145.

[2:25:31] So we're talking about the Ford Walks and then as far south as the new proposed sounds.

[2:25:43] So what we're going to go through today is a SWOT analysis.

[2:25:47] I don't know if you'll have ever heard of that before, but since we had strengths, weaknesses,

[2:25:53] opportunities and threats, we're going to go through what we see in each one of those

[2:25:58] and we'd love to get y'all feedback on those.

[2:26:05] So the first thing is the strengths.

[2:26:09] Kima has a unique character.

[2:26:11] It started out as a fishing tent and become a place

[2:26:14] where there's a waterfront area

[2:26:19] where there's plenty of entertainment.

[2:26:22] And the other thing that we saw is that

[2:26:27] it's part of a strategic regional location.

[2:26:30] It's amongst the bunch of towns

[2:26:31] they're growing and the connection with State Highway 146.

[2:26:40] Under the economics

[2:26:41] with the strengths we see is that you have a base that a few cities have and that

[2:26:47] is the boardwalk, the economics associated with the entertainment and that

[2:26:52] commercial development is very rare. As you can see from the information on the

[2:26:58] right hand side there's a little over three to four million visits per year that's to

[2:27:05] be compared to the San Antonio Riverwalk they have 13 million however the Alamo has

[2:27:16] a little less than a million so y'all have quite a number of people that come to your boardwalk

[2:27:22] every year. And then looking at actually the income per person or per household you can see it's

[2:27:30] pretty high. It's 136 for the region which includes Seabrook, League City, Nassau Bay and San

[2:27:38] Leon. So specifically in chemo it's $85,000 a little bit more but however that is a little bit of a

[2:27:46] decreased than what it was previously. However, one of the things I wanted to compare to,

[2:27:52] also the city of Houston, which is 65 dollars, so there is a fluency here that will help support

[2:28:02] any sort of growth.

[2:28:05] Then there is the top, the balance tax base that you have between the board

[2:28:10] law, the entertainment, identity, and the waterfront property. There is income that you get from those

[2:28:15] taxes, and there has been a growth in year-over-year job growth for the area as well.

[2:28:28] As far as the weaknesses are concerned, there are some vulnerable abilities that we were

[2:28:37] saying that you have a great base with this entertainment component, but it's also there's

[2:28:45] the tendency to have too much reliance on that, so we needed to diversify.

[2:28:52] One of the other things that could be best could be a good thing for the city, which

[2:29:00] is not here now, it's extended state, that if there is opportunities for that, especially

[2:29:05] as you get to the convention center here and being able to build around more of the tourism

[2:29:14] some that could occur where you have conventions here, you need places for people to stay.

[2:29:21] And then also there's limited civic amenities, for instance, there's no hospital, there's

[2:29:27] no library, and there's no urgent care here.

[2:29:29] So one of the things that you're relying on, the other cities around the area to take care

[2:29:36] of that.

[2:29:38] Then there also are some physical constraints where there's limited available land.

[2:29:47] There's only eight parcels right now that are actively marketed for commercial development.

[2:29:54] But also the other thing is parts of a physical constraint, but again it can be an opportunity

[2:30:00] State Highway 146 that divides the two parts of the city. And then next, there is the infrastructure constraints. The water isn't under the control of the city, and it is at capacity right now. The other thing is that there is core internal connectivity that you can see from that score, that walking score there, that it's 35 over 54 hours.

[2:30:30] which means that most of the areas that are run have to be done by a car, so which adds

[2:30:38] to congestion of the city. Not only do you have the visitors which have people getting out.

[2:30:42] So again, we look for opportunities, especially along that state highway 146,

[2:30:48] opportunity to develop a linear park that people can connect from one place to the other safely,

[2:30:54] or by walking.

[2:31:01] Under the opportunities, we have to look, or again, as we talked about

[2:31:07] as far as the economics are concerned, we have to look beyond the tourism that we've got to be able to provide,

[2:31:16] you've got to be able to provide additional opportunities other than just what is on the board ball.

[2:31:23] And then, again, diversify the economic sectors, the connectivity, again, looking for ways

[2:31:35] of connecting the city, rather than it being a series of nodes being able to connect

[2:31:39] the different parts so that you can move one to the other.

[2:31:43] The other thing that we looked at was the regional collaboration that the more that connectivity

[2:31:48] activity could occur, especially if you have a golf cart community, is there a way to

[2:31:52] use golf carts to get to some of our cities as well so that, again, you're not getting

[2:31:59] out on the road in your car, and then you can, if you can develop the series of pathways

[2:32:05] and sidewalks that are safe, getting from one to the other, then you have less use of

[2:32:10] or need for your cart.

[2:32:13] The other thing is the drainage and the water,

[2:32:18] those are things that are going to have to be developed in order to make chemo more

[2:32:25] self-sufficient. The other thing that always comes as far as safety is concerned, you've

[2:32:32] got to improve all the lighting, especially along the three way, so that people feel

[2:32:38] safe here and also improve way finding so that it's very easy to get them around from one

[2:32:44] place to the net.

[2:32:50] Now, as far as the threats are concerned, obviously, there is the flood

[2:32:54] low mobility, there is a number of properties that are at risk, they increase, they are

[2:33:00] increasing. There's also, again, the transit congestion, not only from cars, people coming

[2:33:07] into the town, but also within the town as well.

[2:33:14] The other thing that what we want to emphasize

[2:33:17] is that under housing there is affordable housing that needs to be taking hold here in town so that you can supply

[2:33:28] affordable housing for workers so that it's not just high income housing that you provide.

[2:33:37] And then again, there's no additional water capacity.

[2:33:44] The other thing that I wanted to emphasize is that the water, the fire department and

[2:33:51] EMS are not under the control of the city, those somehow or another, we need to get that

[2:33:56] back into the control of the city so that, or at least have more input so that you're

[2:34:01] not left without service.

[2:34:04] So

[2:34:12] that basically very quickly is our presentation on the SWOT analysis and so what we want to do is a series of questions with you so that we get your input.

[2:34:25] The first question is does this SWOT reflect the chemo?

[2:34:30] You know what's missing in

[2:34:37] my live audience?

[2:34:38] I don't forget because I don't forget once I get started.

[2:34:49] The purpose of this next step now is to paraphrase what was just said, you know what

[2:34:57] chema is, you know what chema isn't. The question is

[2:35:00] What do we want to be when we grow up? Okay, and that's the input that we need right now.

[2:35:07] What are the areas of focus? To chime in on some things that were kind of mentioned and kind of to pick up on some things that we've done. Obviously there's been a big focus on tourism. There's a big focus on eco tourism, the parks, quality of life, talked about the linear park and things like that. This is where we now roll our sleeves up and say, hey, we want this.

[2:35:30] this, hey, we want that, this is that component of time where you get to draw on a black sheet of paper,

[2:35:38] what each one of you sees or would like Kema to be, where the searching out of plan and where we want to be in 2040.

[2:35:48] What are the things that we want, what are the needs we want to go after?

[2:35:50] Do we want to go chase a professional team out the realm?

[2:35:54] But do we want to send ourselves up to be the place that has the first flying drones delivering

[2:36:00] You know, groceries. Oh wait, we did that already. Where do we want to go next? That's what the objective is.

[2:36:23] What do you want to be? What do you want to do? What do you want to do?

[2:36:33] It would seem we would want water access.

[2:36:41] Go for it.

[2:36:42] Sit. Oh, well first of all, when you look at the SWAT reflect, you know, I think you nailed a lot of it, but one of the things

[2:36:48] is I didn't see if there was a threat. Our biggest threat is really becoming irrelevant.

[2:36:52] No water, no infrastructure development in downtown Kema, not a nice place to walk around

[2:36:58] and hang out. So now you're looking at the competition. What about Webster? What about

[2:37:03] what they're doing with the 12,500 seat shed? What about all of the attractions I'm making?

[2:37:08] What about Seabrook? What about Galveston? I mean, if we don't take action to be what

[2:37:12] we want to be, we're going to be irrelevant. And really, I think we all struggle with, as

[2:37:16] We want to have the best quality of life for our citizens.

[2:37:19] We also want to be a destination.

[2:37:21] We need to balance that as best as possible.

[2:37:23] But if you look at the investments that are being made in these areas, we're not tracking

[2:37:27] any of that.

[2:37:28] And so when you look at our downtown infrastructure, what do we want to be?

[2:37:31] We just want to be a better version where we're at.

[2:37:33] We'd like to be able to see people with baby carriages are not dodging traffic on 6th street.

[2:37:39] We want to make sure we've got more event space, like the Gateway Park and maybe putting

[2:37:44] a shed over 6th street.

[2:37:45] We got to just, you know, when we, a couple of years ago, when I came on, we had a urban planning consultancy

[2:37:52] came in.

[2:37:53] The first thing I did was got an interview with her on the phone and she said, you know,

[2:37:56] when you look at these towns, vintage shopping areas, you know, so many towns want to be

[2:38:00] another round top or they want to be a Frederickburg or whatever, but they don't have anything

[2:38:04] to anchor it.

[2:38:05] Because you guys have so many anchors here.

[2:38:07] You just got to make them better.

[2:38:08] You know, the downtown lighthouse district is because that's a gem.

[2:38:11] I mean, cities would kill for what you have, but it hasn't been invested in.

[2:38:15] It's not a great place to hang out.

[2:38:17] When you look at the boat ramp, you look at the opportunity for Gateway Park, great people spaces, great event spaces, great quality of life spaces, great ways to generate revenue.

[2:38:26] We just got to invest in what we already have and make it better.

[2:38:30] One of the things we talked about last night was the Kima Digital Project.

[2:38:33] The consultant said you got 11 million people coming down, 146 every year, are you talking to them?

[2:38:38] You tell them about your restaurants, you tell them about your shopping areas, you're making this destination.

[2:38:43] So I think fundamentally we have what we need, we just need to invest in what we already have and just make, and still, and I think we can achieve that quality as a really great destination and be a place where they drive through Webster to get here and still have a great environment for our citizens.

[2:39:01] So I mean, I think you're pretty much right on with what you did, but we got to realize that we can't take for granted what we have.

[2:39:08] we need to invest in it.

[2:39:10] One of the things,

[2:39:22] yes, there is my

[2:39:33] out there, to think about, are there a way to

[2:39:45] work together so everybody benefits together?

[2:39:50] I mean, that's a one way of what would be nice, if,

[2:39:59] let's say,

[2:40:00] City or wherever it is, but some where they're living in other town, make it easier for them to get to boardwalk so that they don't mind having coming over. Easily getting there and through the connections or pathways to to die in there for an evening and go home. So we're also looking for ways. How can we work together in this region to make everybody better? So do I, I love the area of a golf park community. And the

[2:40:29] linear park piece and from the standpoint of we said 2040 if there were a

[2:40:35] ferry service from Seabrook to Kima that went back and forth and there was a

[2:40:40] collaboration in that way where you had some shared attraction if we're

[2:40:44] saying we're pulling people to the area that could be an interesting concept of

[2:40:51] working together or where there's more access in that format you know if we're

[2:40:57] If we're spitballing out into the future, how to make that, I think from the standpoint

[2:41:04] of the connectivity of the golf cart, there's a lot of things that we can do in shared

[2:41:09] communities, whether it's clear like shores and chema, are different places, but you need

[2:41:13] to have paths.

[2:41:15] To get there, I think that's also an attractive aspect, and you mentioned extended stay where

[2:41:22] people are coming here and that's part of their rental opportunity. I think that

[2:41:27] makes it an opportunity. Tom talks about we have this downtown. When I travel a lot

[2:41:34] and one of the things I enjoy what I'm in different places is when it has a

[2:41:40] high-end look that is cohesive and there's continuity and that does require

[2:41:47] It requires business owners investing and it requires people who hold land and property

[2:41:53] wanting to do improvement, applies to just letting it be.

[2:41:59] Then I see, I mean, I agree with you and I see a problem because I'm from Galveston.

[2:42:05] And for the longest while, we hear how perfect Corpus was and then Galveston was just a tourist trap.

[2:42:13] I felt resentful toward that, and I see where the old Jack Tarr used to be.

[2:42:20] They have a hotel, a restaurant area, and they got an airplane that looked like it crashed through.

[2:42:28] I just, I want to say, yeah, we need to have the right spin, the right image, and develop that image.

[2:42:37] We don't need a plane crashing through the lighthouse, so to speak.

[2:42:41] But we need something to bring them here, like the water park that I've been hearing about,

[2:42:48] that's a positive thing. I just think that, you know, something being family oriented,

[2:42:54] something being the taste of the coast, so to speak, and the feel of the coast, the coast

[2:43:00] spirit, I guess you call it. I think that's what we should look toward. And, you know, the

[2:43:06] The golf court community, that makes a lot of sense.

[2:43:11] Well, tell me to get out and miss that.

[2:43:13] I wasn't quite following.

[2:43:14] You said you were from Galveston

[2:43:16] and you resented something.

[2:43:19] I was then being called a tourist trap in Galveston.

[2:43:23] Yes, the Galveston way I heard that

[2:43:26] how perfect corpus was, better they were.

[2:43:31] And cities like Galveston were considered tourist traps.

[2:43:36] So, what was the difference between Corpus and Galveston?

[2:43:40] Why did they say it was a tourist trap in Galveston and it wasn't in Corpus?

[2:43:45] Well, one of the parking on the boulevard has always been a pain on the backside, too.

[2:43:52] I remember this so distinctly because there was a share-run station on the corner of 61st

[2:43:58] a Stewart. One guy came pushing past everybody, trying to pay for gas, and he was griping

[2:44:06] about. He had to use the woman's restroom to go to the vet, to his business. And the

[2:44:13] woman by the counter said, if it wasn't for your tourists coming in, we, you and Sepigate,

[2:44:19] beer can down the toilet, you wouldn't have to be using it. And I'm thinking like, that's

[2:44:26] but they think about us.

[2:44:27] They're tourists, they can come and go.

[2:44:29] I used to joke about, on the causeway,

[2:44:34] get to the top of it, there's one speed,

[2:44:37] so this is 55 or 50 and then 55 or 50 going up.

[2:44:42] Going in 55, coming out 50.

[2:44:44] I mean, the reverse, I'm sorry.

[2:44:47] It's so no other word to say, come on in and

[2:44:49] enjoy yourself and get the hell out of town.

[2:44:52] So I may be paraphrasing this wrong,

[2:44:55] but it sounds like you don't like to be used to the views in the current way.

[2:45:02] So what do you think,

[2:45:06] I see what you're saying, to part of it is respect from the people who come here to bed. That's part of it. I hear what you're saying about that. So what is it that will help them respect you as well as being respected? How do you think that, how does that work out there?

[2:45:26] Basically, I have a friend who's a very drastic

[2:45:30] different opinion of mine, blackly.

[2:45:33] I said, OK, if you want to talk about politics issues,

[2:45:37] I said, you respect me, and I'll respect you

[2:45:39] when you're flooded, you're spoiling your point of view.

[2:45:42] I said, I just want, if you want to have a good conversation,

[2:45:45] respect each other.

[2:45:47] You stop talking.

[2:45:50] But the point is, we need better communication with people

[2:45:54] We need to put a prop, I think we need to put a show with a proper spin on what he was all about.

[2:46:03] But I'm thinking that because my perfect life is from folks who are seaside.

[2:46:10] I've discussed folks who are seaside for a couple of decades now and it's coming around.

[2:46:15] He's actually very correct.

[2:46:16] If you first infride themselves and not being this tourist destination for all, you know the beaches there.

[2:46:24] You know the hotels of the beach.

[2:46:26] There was no hotels of the beach, they weren't crowded.

[2:46:31] There was a nice place to go.

[2:46:32] There's everything convention centers.

[2:46:34] There was local restaurants, all these types of things.

[2:46:37] And as soon as they started over commercializing it.

[2:46:41] But you know the hotels.

[2:46:43] as close to the water as it can get, you know, all of that feeling of space, that feeling of being special is just kind of disappearing.

[2:46:53] It's more of a church right now than else.

[2:46:55] Which is strange.

[2:46:58] I think that's maybe what Robson is just a little balanced.

[2:47:02] Obviously, I mean, Robson is a little balanced in terms of, you know, are we focusing full on the spiritual realm

[2:47:10] which is not about idea, most part, but also keeping it where we're not using it.

[2:47:17] I like the text on there, it's said, the most capital text that you've discussed and aimed for issues.

[2:47:25] I like stuff like that. I think we have, it's like you say, we have a lot of stuff that people would love to have

[2:47:34] And we could use that as an aim, which push that is like a whether that's what that's,

[2:47:39] that's, yeah, one they're going to talk about, like, our question is we should,

[2:47:47] it's advising people, okay, during the next round, so around this area, you're talking about

[2:47:50] left-ster, he's a hybrid to act, that's where it's going to go.

[2:47:54] In this area, though, there's no west pine trees, there's no rest-straw spots,

[2:48:00] You know, highest restaurant time spots on Washington,

[2:48:04] things like that.

[2:48:04] Around this area, that could easily be us

[2:48:07] because we have everyday things to add to that.

[2:48:11] If we have a destination for everybody to come,

[2:48:14] let's talk about, I think that's what it's

[2:48:17] just, you know, very out of the basin.

[2:48:20] There's bars, there's restaurants,

[2:48:22] and the boardwalk, obviously, right around the end.

[2:48:24] It's just like a blessing.

[2:48:26] I was at the summer talking to this,

[2:48:29] and that's really what they did was, essentially, they figured out that, okay, well, they will just kind of use this area for me.

[2:48:37] It was museum, so talk about museums. They said that was like the main thing they produced on.

[2:48:41] They became known as the museum area of that part of the policy.

[2:48:45] All of a sudden, the bigger business started to move from, you know, the casino area on the beach to that area

[2:48:54] because there was a ton of good traffic, but it was a day and not, which is different in this business especially.

[2:49:02] And so, you know, they, if they should center in which they, that's where it's headed back in 13 years ago,

[2:49:08] because it blew up this up.

[2:49:11] And I said, at least, I really like the model they use, and it almost feels like being here.

[2:49:19] That's how it was successful.

[2:49:35] So do I are you wanting us to tell you what we don't want are you wanting us to talk

[2:49:41] about a vision 14 years from now into 40 so that you can pry or I think you know you

[2:49:48] You brought up a really good point on Galveston. It's almost a tale of two cities.

[2:49:51] My daughter lives on 10th and C-Wall, right?

[2:49:54] And if you want touristy attractions, they're right there, right, low-end, you know, restaurants, you know.

[2:50:00] I shouldn't say low one, but not high and stuff. But then we went, the other side of the island went to the VA area, which is a new development in Galveston. And I mean, they've invested, I mean, the shops are great, the retail environment is great, so they have better retailers. So if we're looking at, hey, we want to bring in better retailers, better restaurants, higher-end retail, make this more of a destination, then we've got to invest in the infrastructure because otherwise it looks like sea wall. We have a choice. The VA or sea wall are somewhere in between. But it's really a question of, are we prepared to make the investment?

[2:50:31] It's been a lot of talk about driving revenues and tourism and some other quality of

[2:50:40] life stuff.

[2:50:40] One thing that was in your analysis was talking about services that aren't owned by the

[2:50:44] taxpayer, specifically taxpayers in the settlements of Kima, directly under the control of kind

[2:50:51] of city hall and this body and the staff.

[2:50:55] People in this town don't realize how fragile their fire department is.

[2:50:58] You kind of identified that not only from a no water standpoint, but from you know

[2:51:05] I consider fire apparatuses and fire trucks infrastructure as well. I mean it's part of it's part of the total package and mechanism of safety and quality of life

[2:51:15] There are a lot of residents in this town that I can I can guarantee you don't understand how closely are not having a fire truck

[2:51:23] You're any given day in this town, if there's a wreck on 146 and your house catches on fire,

[2:51:27] will you sadly need to pray that your house catches on fire first because that fire truck's

[2:51:32] not coming because there's only one of them.

[2:51:34] And, you know, it's a sad place to be in and it is what it is, historically how we got

[2:51:41] here, whatever, you know, it needs to be addressed in the future.

[2:51:47] I mean, there's only one ambulance in the town.

[2:51:48] If that ambulance is busy, Seabrook doesn't come over the British.

[2:51:52] League City is not coming.

[2:51:53] The next ambulance is in San Leon and Baycliffe.

[2:51:56] That's the next out ambulance.

[2:51:57] And that's the busiest ambulance in Galveston County's coverage area.

[2:52:01] So it is often not available, and eventually Seabrook will show up.

[2:52:05] Eventually, League City will show up if it's critical enough.

[2:52:10] But, you know, a family in this town is 1-9-1-1 call away from not getting help unless it's

[2:52:16] the police department, and I don't think we emphasize that enough, and it's not to

[2:52:21] scare people, it's just the reality of what it is.

[2:52:26] It has not happened yet, but like last week, I mean, we have two fire trucks that can respond

[2:52:30] to fires.

[2:52:33] One of them is on the last third of its 20-year life run, the latter truck is much more

[2:52:42] life left in it. But the ladder truck runs great. The other truck has engine problems.

[2:52:49] It's going in and out of the shop. We also have a lot of motor vehicle accidents because

[2:52:54] we have nothing but state roads in this town that people haul up and down. We've had trucks

[2:53:00] get hit. We don't have a blocker type truck like our trucks that the apparatus is that we

[2:53:05] have are it. We have to use the ladder to block traffic because it's the only thing we got.

[2:53:11] And if it gets hit it's out and you can look at the news and go on the internet and see how long it takes to get a fire truck prepared

[2:53:18] You know how long it takes to get a fire truck replaced much less the price is almost tripped you know since pre-COVID

[2:53:26] And you know it's kind of under the control of the water board and

[2:53:30] Two days ago they pissed away a three hundred thousand dollar grant to get one

[2:53:34] While one of the trucks is in the shop and you said yeah

[2:53:36] It's good. I think what I'm the bird that I think I'm hearing from you and

[2:53:45] Craig me from wrong but by 2040 it would be good if chemo were self-sufficient.

[2:53:50] Yes. So that's something that we need to work toward in some of the thinking

[2:53:56] that we're doing, the planning that we're doing is self-sufficiency. I will just caution.

[2:54:02] I mean obviously this is open forum in whatever the case is but I will caution that that may be turned into a political football and

[2:54:13] I'll just be

[2:54:14] Outright and say that not that I agree or disagree with that I'm just letting everybody know so we understand that if that's something that we're setting on as a

[2:54:20] Vision it comes with being a target expect the arrows to start flying and it's part of the game of what we play right that's why we hold the seats in

[2:54:31] position that we do, but just keep that in mind as we're doing that not to say

[2:54:34] that it's wrong. I mean it's something that ultimately the voters would have

[2:54:39] to decide but right now they don't have any information on it they don't

[2:54:42] they don't know that there's an issue and you know it's they can decide how

[2:54:48] political they want to make it you know whatever but you know they need to

[2:54:54] understand that they expect they expect their tax dollars to deliver

[2:54:57] services and there is a portion of

[2:55:00] We know that we can't control as a city council that is going to impact somebody's livelihood, their home, their investment, their family. You know, it's okay. But those people think we control it. But what you're talking about is very important is that's what y'all are responsible for is life safety.

[2:55:30] I think it's a good parish because of that.

[2:55:32] Councilman Thornton had a comment to me.

[2:55:34] Just briefly, the emergency service board,

[2:55:39] we actually have two members,

[2:55:41] the court members are all two members of this council on that board.

[2:55:46] And it may be just a starting point, not a solution,

[2:55:52] but a starting point of educating not only the council and the public.

[2:55:58] we often have speakers come in to City Council and that would be I think an

[2:56:03] opportunity to do so on most types of things. And what I wanted to hope that we

[2:56:09] would add to because your analysis is the ecotourism part because it has to be

[2:56:16] something we can't do everything. So picking a priority and I feel the

[2:56:25] The ecotourism is something that's more accessible, more close to what we can control.

[2:56:35] And that's all I wanted to say.

[2:56:36] Can you tell me what your definition of ecotourism is?

[2:56:39] I feel like there's broad definitions across different jurisdictions.

[2:56:45] But what is it for you?

[2:56:46] My definition of ecotourism is not what the city so will.

[2:56:51] I'll defer to the City Administrator on what his vision

[2:56:55] having come from a Parks and Recreation background

[2:57:01] because it's different from my personal definition.

[2:57:06] But it definitely was something that was brought up

[2:57:08] even earlier in our day of this retreat.

[2:57:15] Do you want my definition to hers?

[2:57:16] Yes.

[2:57:17] Would you mind?

[2:57:18] Well, I'll relay it to the assets that we have.

[2:57:23] So, eco-tursum can mean a lot of different things, but we have a 57 acre nature facility

[2:57:29] that is being developed.

[2:57:32] We have the guest nurse center that is available right down the street that Galveston Bay Foundation

[2:57:37] calls its home right here in Kema, eventually the walkability of the linear park leading to

[2:57:44] the bolt ramp.

[2:57:45] I think I'll call that a T, if you look at that on a map, that T would be our eco-tursum

[2:57:50] sector, but also connectivity to other parcels in different areas.

[2:57:55] Link City has some pockets.

[2:57:56] There's obviously a lot of fishing and voting available here.

[2:58:00] But as you connect that even going down to Armon Bayou, we can serve as that focal point

[2:58:05] of that nature eco-tourism connectivity point, if you will, for the entire region.

[2:58:12] Not to take away from the things that are in Galveston or in Hitchcock or in different places,

[2:58:16] but any of the sectors like over the mark with their park space and stuff that they have.

[2:58:22] But I think together we can market that a little bit better, but going back to what you said,

[2:58:26] like a regional approach towards doing that towards eco-terrorism could be fine. It's funny,

[2:58:30] because before you got here, we kind of had a conversation about that, about destination marketing

[2:58:34] organization, or some visitors bureau of some sort. But that's my definition based on the assets

[2:58:42] that we own. I mean we can go into much greater depth if we go into snorkeling and different

[2:58:48] things like that and scuba diving and things of that nature.

[2:58:50] Faintaining access to the water for the public and about what if you see, I like any

[2:58:56] way here. I like my architectural mind. You'll crazy right now. I'm thinking, can you try

[2:59:05] to capture boats that are obviously coming through their lake all the way out to the bay.

[2:59:12] I'm just making this up now, it would drive in for sale loads.

[2:59:16] Yeah, no, and that's kind of the, no, it's not crazy.

[2:59:21] I think that's what makes this unique, right?

[2:59:23] I mean, I think we all grew up on the idea of drive-ins,

[2:59:25] but how would it be to have an event where we did drive-ins with boats?

[2:59:29] And again, this is the type of thing that we want to try to venture off

[2:59:32] and be different and partake in, so I appreciate you bringing that up.

[2:59:36] For the sake of the fact that we've got about 75 minutes or so left,

[2:59:40] a little bit less than that.

[2:59:42] I do want to focus on these.

[2:59:44] Is this the last slide?

[2:59:45] Yes.

[2:59:45] Okay.

[2:59:46] I want to focus on these four questions because if we can break this down into kind of 15-minute clusters,

[2:59:53] if you will, what are we missing in this slot?

[2:59:58] Thank you very much.

[3:00:00] What have we not mentioned? I'll mention a couple things that we didn't say, because a lot of it is the KCDC component. What was mentioned, but wasn't completed in my opinion, and what I have set up here to try to accomplish is zero taxes to our residents, and you just mentioned we have eight parcels of land left, and to create what I need to be done, I've got to generate $94 million in sales, almost eight parcels of land. So I got to re-duplicate the boardwalk in Walmart, again, to accomplish that.

[3:00:30] So we're down to very limited properties and to get to a zero property tax as you're talking about and I'm only figuring one and a half percent

[3:00:38] A half percent going to KCDC but my mind it is all KCDC at that point and that becomes rodent maintenance and takes care of the storms

[3:00:46] Issue with the rodent maintenance part of it. So it's kind of my ultimate goal. It was my goal for 2032, 2031 originally 2032 now but not having water

[3:01:01] I do want to just comment on that specific thing because obviously the component of what

[3:01:07] KCDC does, and like I said last night, it was really refreshing to have that meeting

[3:01:11] last night with everybody, and to not only sit down and go over the CIP priorities, whether

[3:01:16] the ones that were selected, or we're going to try to figure out a way to do it, and we

[3:01:19] have four of the members here, but also to add a responsibility to each one of those

[3:01:25] by a person, because what we called it last night was identifying a champion for each one of them.

[3:01:30] Which is important to me, because I think it gives ownership to that.

[3:01:33] And so I wanted to comment that, I also wanted to comment on the fact that maybe there's something different, right?

[3:01:43] What is it we're not doing?

[3:01:44] So some of the things that we've encountered so far,

[3:01:49] besides the ones that the guest or center just put in, we don't have a single EV station in the city,

[3:01:54] except for those that they're in the process of putting in.

[3:01:57] And I know that in the Houston area, the South Texas area, that EVs are kind of taboo and so forth, but there isn't that.

[3:02:05] We signed-

[3:02:05] The President's asked me about that, but she said Walmart was-

[3:02:08] Walmart's trying to implement it.

[3:02:09] We're working on this in the permitting process to see if-

[3:02:12] There's nothing on line showing the Galson Bay as theirs.

[3:02:16] I don't know if they're open for the public, but-

[3:02:17] I don't think they're active.

[3:02:18] Because neither one of them were aware that they were there.

[3:02:21] I will follow up with their leadership, but I think that they're there.

[3:02:24] but I don't think that they're at pictures.

[3:02:26] Yeah, there's publicize because we do have people

[3:02:28] with EVs in town that are asking.

[3:02:32] But, I did tell them about the office in Maryland, so.

[3:02:35] You said there's two.

[3:02:36] There's two at the Kippur.

[3:02:37] Two at the Kippur.

[3:02:38] Okay, great.

[3:02:39] Well, thank you for that.

[3:02:40] Well, I was inside the gate.

[3:02:41] Inside the gate, so they're not public, but yes.

[3:02:44] But along those lines, right, we've talked about

[3:02:47] some of the things that we were able to do.

[3:02:48] We went out and got Soul Smart certified.

[3:02:51] The idea with that is to start incorporating some type of solar energy to try to incorporate

[3:02:57] that into our own fleet of EVs, maybe so we can save money on gas and or power in the

[3:03:01] future with solar.

[3:03:03] But also providing solar co-ops to our residents, there's more than one way to provide our

[3:03:08] residents some type of help.

[3:03:13] So if we're able to do that through a co-op program, that's what that program is for,

[3:03:20] We've exploited that probably to the full extent with all these trees that we've got donated several hundred thousand dollars worth of trees that have been planted or in the process of being planted as we speak.

[3:03:30] Our tourism friendly, being that we were a tourist location, not having had that certification with a challenge that we were given by this council shortly after like my arrival.

[3:03:41] and thankfully we've got that but there's more to come, I mean we're going after music friendly,

[3:03:47] digital media friendly, film friendly, and something that near and dear to our hearts,

[3:03:52] we came up with the idea of going to be century friendly, and we took that to the

[3:03:57] governor's office and it's a pilot program that we're working on and I went up there and asked the

[3:04:02] question I said why are we involved in all these other friendlies but there's nothing for autism

[3:04:06] or PTSD or anything like that.

[3:04:08] And so they said, that's a great idea.

[3:04:11] Like, well, what have you done about that?

[3:04:12] I was like, well, we're doing mandatory training for our police officers.

[3:04:15] And we worked with a boardwalk on some quiet days,

[3:04:19] or situation where they open up a little bit earlier

[3:04:22] and don't have the music, you don't have all the lights and stuff on.

[3:04:25] And some of the restaurants are doing some of this neat stuff.

[3:04:27] And like, you know what, that sounds amazing.

[3:04:29] Great job.

[3:04:30] Now you're going to be in charge of this task force.

[3:04:32] So, careful what you wish for.

[3:04:34] But we have been, and you guys have supported that.

[3:04:36] And now we're at the next phase, there's bills going into this next session.

[3:04:41] We're trying to make it mandatory for the state to have mandatory autism or

[3:04:46] sensory training for the police officers.

[3:04:51] You're being part of change that is going to be replicated throughout the entire state and

[3:04:55] possibly the nation.

[3:04:57] Little Kema is doing that.

[3:04:59] And...

[3:05:00] So as we do that, that's what I'm asking. What are we missing? We mentioned water, we mentioned, you know, conservation. Maybe it's we need to have a robust, more robust recycling program. I've had a couple of folks ask about recycling. We've talked about emergency management. What can we do that's different? I've heard about our kids don't have anywhere to go. Again, we have parks, but what other things can we do that are

[3:05:29] going to bring that together. So what is missing? You guys have visited different towns,

[3:05:37] different cities. One that we haven't touched on very much that we've kind of started doing,

[3:05:41] but haven't owned completely is the arts. You know, we've got a mural park. Maybe it's exposing

[3:05:47] the arts more. Maybe it's it's we're going to become a full, you know, a tree city USA and we're

[3:05:56] where we're going to have trees everywhere you go.

[3:05:57] And maybe what is it going to be

[3:05:59] that's going to be that next thing?

[3:06:01] Or what are we missing and what would we like?

[3:06:03] That sort of thing, we kind of mentioned it a little bit

[3:06:06] on that one slide, but that's it would be a great thing

[3:06:08] on that linear park to have some of that artwork,

[3:06:11] at least some of it displayed so that people,

[3:06:13] as they pass by, can see it,

[3:06:17] and then it just invigorates the city itself.

[3:06:21] We actually have some of those concepts,

[3:06:24] And I believe one of the KCDC members brought a presentation where along 146, that was

[3:06:34] part of it.

[3:06:36] And believe it or not, and the American correctman, if I'm incorrect in this, there is architectural

[3:06:43] concept drawing for connecting the waterways that ferry, that bridge.

[3:06:56] I just don't think much has been done on that late lead hearing was serving on that board but it's just that it's there so they don't have to start if it's

[3:07:07] continued they don't have to start from 0 if they can find anything that might have come down to funding I don't know where that is but I'm

[3:07:17] But I don't remember seeing them.

[3:07:24] So there's.

[3:07:26] Okay.

[3:07:31] So.

[3:07:33] Precinct to.

[3:07:35] No, we have no sign.

[3:07:37] Precinct to an Adrian Garcia's office has agreed to fund the dressing off of that of that project and actually the tourism committee that we had through Bayhap.

[3:07:48] That that we chair is kind of taking that project on as its lead.

[3:07:53] So another thing that we do.

[3:07:56] As you know, there's funding available for art projects in cities.

[3:08:03] The state of Texas is trying to promote that.

[3:08:07] So there's a source of income through that or source of funding.

[3:08:10] I think a source of funding through that.

[3:08:14] I think as we're looking forward, there's an opportunity to look at zoning

[3:08:18] if we're talking about continuity and the image we want.

[3:08:22] And I also think there's an opportunity to look at shared services in more aggressive ways.

[3:08:31] And we've talked about that at different times.

[3:08:33] You

[3:08:38] were talking maybe about people saying there's still this part basically,

[3:08:44] you're referencing, I guess, what's being referred to as a third space, that's happening for another people.

[3:08:53] Third space, you know, to be on some of the other space cells.

[3:09:00] You know, that's not a start, I mean, that's a cultural issue.

[3:09:10] But, you know, just I'm thinking about that, that is something that people here obviously want and that's something that I really have heard in your reference that you were discussing.

[3:09:23] You know, we're having talks about sports centers and fiction centers and things like that.

[3:09:28] I know that having a gym there and having that available is something not.

[3:09:32] You know, if you're like a character, you're just asking how to put the space in the community.

[3:09:37] I mean, whether they agree or not, I think that's something that would make people, you know,

[3:09:44] at least listen to what you mean there.

[3:09:47] Sure.

[3:09:49] And I think we'll touch on that here in a little bit towards the end of this presentation.

[3:09:56] Tell me, what's your definition of thirds?

[3:10:03] These specifically, well, I guess the reference, I don't really exactly, I don't know the exact need, but basically a third space is something that people used to have a lot of when communities were released here to get around, you know, there was a lot of building and things to that extent. Basically you have work, you have home, but you go to congregate with people, you go to fellowship with people. There is a space that's good. Now, Houston, I mean, you guys could use that.

[3:10:33] So, the computer capital now here is, people don't really do that so much during daytime.

[3:10:40] Basically, it's getting a little bit bubbled.

[3:10:42] And they say that's really good.

[3:10:45] They go travel somewhere with their family.

[3:10:47] This one is perfect.

[3:10:48] This, this, this.

[3:10:50] And so, they kind of binge that.

[3:10:52] The first case is one of the things that you can go anytime that you feel comfortable,

[3:10:57] but also is safe for you, your family, or either.

[3:11:01] If that's something you have to make.

[3:11:05] Here nowadays because it's something you used to have a lot of

[3:11:07] who wanted to bring up. You think that old school

[3:11:10] at first case is buying CAs.

[3:11:13] Different types of shops and activity center,

[3:11:15] Asian center, city and city grants that basically

[3:11:17] have less than things.

[3:11:19] You have these things with those are so expensive.

[3:11:21] If you know a lot of people need to have them, they can move them.

[3:11:25] And those other issues there.

[3:11:26] And so really people use, you know,

[3:11:30] But, you know, people use things like coffee shops, and, you know, some bars and restaurants and things that extend.

[3:11:38] But, you know, nobody gets in, nobody is sitting on their couch at it.

[3:11:41] Sixteries like Pam Ford gets my go to the 57-acre part.

[3:11:46] Yeah, of course they do that.

[3:11:48] But you're talking about something that people can do on a day later, on a day basis.

[3:11:52] They're not doing something like that.

[3:11:53] that users don't have a third space to show,

[3:11:55] you know, comfortable place that doesn't take any

[3:11:57] planning, that doesn't take any of the people

[3:11:59] just to accommodate and then leave.

[3:12:02] That's a, that's a lovely problem for you.

[3:12:05] Sure.

[3:12:07] But it is something I think, I mean,

[3:12:09] you know, you're, you're discussing the pros

[3:12:11] and the cons, which I don't think are perfectly

[3:12:13] discussing this person in this change.

[3:12:16] That is a pro that I have heard of

[3:12:18] of as some of the people who are related to people.

[3:12:20] It's really, really walking at this point because I think that he might have so much

[3:12:25] to offer, like, anger should be, you know, that he won't take the next level, which is

[3:12:30] work.

[3:12:31] What, what I hear you, but I hear you saying it almost from, the image I got in my head

[3:12:36] when you were talking is the St. Mark's Plaza in Venice, where everybody congregates there

[3:12:45] and the question is, is there a space like that that's large enough to hold a number

[3:12:50] of people, but there's also things like restaurants and coffee shops that feed off of those where

[3:12:56] people come to see and be seeing the type of situation.

[3:13:01] Is that what you were talking about specifically?

[3:13:04] Very, very similar in certain things.

[3:13:08] No, they'll have to do the things about it because that's going to come into the, you know,

[3:13:12] we're not just talking about space, you know, we're talking about the same thing.

[3:13:16] businesses, obviously, we have a large amount of business

[3:13:19] coming into the forefront of the game.

[3:13:21] But, you know, it's like a case that earlier,

[3:13:23] you know, we're running out of space.

[3:13:25] And so, you know, I think that has to be balanced with,

[3:13:29] you know, when we go into the,

[3:13:32] do we want to buy and see it here?

[3:13:34] It's going to bring people here during the daytime

[3:13:35] of the kids, or the kids can go,

[3:13:38] there's something like that.

[3:13:39] Sure.

[3:13:39] But it's not going to be profitable.

[3:13:41] Like I said, it's not going to be profitable,

[3:13:42] but does the profit get it?

[3:13:44] This is around because there is a first-based go-to

[3:13:47] and then they go up and hold things and spray it out.

[3:13:50] And it's not so much a tourism issue this morning.

[3:13:53] You know, an internal issue that would be quite,

[3:13:56] find that seed and it's there,

[3:13:59] also for the rest of the suit.

[3:14:02] Well, it may help also diversify the congregating spaces

[3:14:06] that you have now that if there's one specifically

[3:14:08] more towards that's more family-oriented

[3:14:11] versus the bars and the shops and all at the boardwalk.

[3:14:16] So there may be opportunities to develop other places

[3:14:20] for people to congregate, maybe it's more than one,

[3:14:22] but having at least one where families can get together

[3:14:25] by fireworks or whatever the case may be.

[3:14:28] I think someone that's doing a really good job

[3:14:30] of just kind of like micro level of a green space right now

[3:14:34] is the big community green area that's at Baybrook Mall

[3:14:37] with all the restaurants. My wife and I have two young children and that is the focal point.

[3:14:44] We go there and we let what we do there dictate the rest of our stay there. So, you know,

[3:14:50] we might go there and spend the entire time throwing a ball around with other kids and

[3:14:55] then leave or we might end up going to Dave and Busters or grabbing a bite.

[3:15:00] Aye, or walking around the rest of them all, but something that I don't know, and I know we're going to get to this later, but something that I don't know has been explained clearly with the sports center project. I think the sports center project would fill the need of a green space, but I think the sports center project also has the ability to attract development that will generate a third space alongside it, if that makes sense.

[3:15:28] Well, also to your point, it's also going to be able to support itself by drawing people

[3:15:35] in and then you need those spaces for people, the housing, the temporary housing, the

[3:15:41] short-term housing so that they can have tutoring or whatever it is that they're doing and

[3:15:47] then leave the next group comes in, so that's a good point.

[3:15:52] So, there's also the fact of kind of closing in on A.

[3:15:58] Kima's a transient town, the fact that it's between the plants, between the ports, between that transient space.

[3:16:05] We know what's coming to the Galveston area in general between all the developments going on at NASA and

[3:16:11] the shipbuilding and the new plants being built in the expansions and the diesel.

[3:16:16] You're going to change, industry is going to change the general region down here.

[3:16:19] You're going to have more of that transient group of folks down here.

[3:16:23] Don't even get me started on what's happening on Port of Galveston with adding more cruise ships and so forth.

[3:16:27] You're going to become more of a tourist trap, or you're going to become more of a destination and so on and so forth with tourism.

[3:16:33] It's going to expand even more, which is why all these homes are being built in League City and Texas City and here and everything else and everything between.

[3:16:40] What Kim offers, that's different, is someone may not want to stay in an obscure hotel off of 146 or I'm 45 that doesn't have anything around it.

[3:16:49] People would want to stay somewhere like Kema, which is between and offers you so much more to do while you're here.

[3:16:55] That offers a natural third place when you are traveling, which adds to that weekday travel and weekday business that we want to capitalize on that we're currently not doing enough of.

[3:17:03] So I think when we say that's what's missing, that's one thing that I was hoping somebody else was going to maybe mention, but I wanted to just mention it because I feel that that's something that's missing.

[3:17:13] We have the other things.

[3:17:16] Touching a little bit on the community center and event center.

[3:17:21] A lot of these places are built in obscure places that don't have any attractions or restaurants or anything around them.

[3:17:27] I can't tell you some of the places that I've been to where you drive past it three times.

[3:17:30] You don't even know that you're there.

[3:17:31] And it's the middle of a warehouse and I'm standing up, standing in the corner,

[3:17:34] and it's just uncomfortable on there for four hours.

[3:17:36] Eating bags of chips and hot sodas.

[3:17:39] So it really ends up being part of that.

[3:17:42] We are different in the fact that we have the destination already and the attraction method comes from there.

[3:17:48] So the Northern Riding things that can happen from that is different, but I want to go back to talk about the community center component of it.

[3:17:53] The nucleus of this building or the contraption whenever we end up building, if we end up doing it or not,

[3:17:59] is that community center because that's what's going to be used 70% of the time, right?

[3:18:05] We've got a large homeschool population in the area that don't have anywhere to go.

[3:18:10] We have no afterschool programming, nothing against our school system,

[3:18:14] nothing against, there is almost zero afterschool programming unless you're going to the private sector

[3:18:20] and going to the karate classes or the mathenesiums or the kumas or anything else.

[3:18:24] There's just no afterschool programming and almost no summer camp programming.

[3:18:29] Our kids deserve that and I think it's a voice

[3:18:33] that has been silenced or muzzled in this entire thing because we haven't been able to

[3:18:36] ask that question. And again, they don't get to vote. So that's a little bit different.

[3:18:41] But I'll get off that so about for a second. Is there anything else before we move on

[3:18:45] to be that you feel that the SWAT and was presented today in the discussion that we've had that

[3:18:49] we have not touched on? Darren, I know you've turned your mic on.

[3:18:54] Well, I think one thing, and this is going to be beyond my ears, but I think something

[3:18:58] and the board needs to look at is you have what for me

[3:19:03] and what six million people cruising out of Galveston now

[3:19:07] on an annual basis.

[3:19:09] I know in my bouncing around chemon Friday, afternoons,

[3:19:13] or evenings, I'm amazed at how many people I meet

[3:19:16] that are traveling to Galveston.

[3:19:18] And I don't know that we market to that

[3:19:21] because once you cruise once in Galveston,

[3:19:23] do the strand, you've done the strand.

[3:19:25] So if you're coming back the next time,

[3:19:27] If we figure out how to interconnect the girl in 25, 30 minutes away,

[3:19:31] catchin' that Friday night traffic of that 4 million or 6 million people,

[3:19:35] they're not catching a whole lot of it, but I mean,

[3:19:37] there's traffic to be had there.

[3:19:39] It's coming right down either 146 or 45 and looking at place where AI,

[3:19:44] me and Dustin have done some analysis.

[3:19:46] We were really, truly shocked that the number of people coming from Dallas will work.

[3:19:51] It's just market, but I think a lot of them are coming to go to the cruise lines.

[3:19:54] And that's what's bringing them down here is the cruise lines, but I mean they're bringing

[3:19:57] them south.

[3:19:59] and the other thing I would...

[3:20:00] Let's say, from an economic development, because this is, you know, I've learned in the last three years, Texas talks about the triangle from Dallas to San Antonio to Houston, the big triangle of Texas. One thing I have pitched, because one thing you'll run in the economics here is if you do a five mile circle around chemo, you know, two thirds of its water. So we don't have the population, but we have the traffic counts. So you got to go sell the story. So the story that I've been selling and having some traction with is the West Out of Leak City.

[3:20:29] mountain belt you and Kima if you look at it's a triangle and you capture 25 mile drive,

[3:20:35] you capture a market, but they can't go east of us because it's water. So they have to

[3:20:40] come through Kima. So I mean it's getting traction because they want to be about 25 miles

[3:20:44] apart because everybody says 0.45 is right down the road. Well anybody who lives here doesn't

[3:20:50] go to 45 unless you have to. I mean because I can do it at 15, 12 to 15 minutes right now

[3:20:55] probably five o'clock, it takes me 30 minutes to go from here to 45. I mean, must well just shoot me. I don't want to do that, so yeah, I mean, I think that's things that, you know, future councils and KCBC board members really need to look at because there is a triangle there and I think that's where you can gain some traction because it's a huge population. People are still coming. I mean, Santa Fe is talking about 6,000 more homes talking to the mayor of the day. I'm like, well, the Galvesti County is blowing up. So, I mean, and that's the things we got to capitalize.

[3:21:26] I think a lot of our businesses don't look at our local markets.

[3:21:29] I think they forget about the Marabella's.

[3:21:32] It's not even, but it's right across the street.

[3:21:34] A lot of people have Marabella's.

[3:21:35] It's going to keep Marabella because I partake with them and I think they miss that concept

[3:21:41] of focusing on its local base.

[3:21:43] I think that's what we have to do for our local businesses is really because we got some

[3:21:47] string equal restaurants, probably off the charts when you look at the number of restaurants.

[3:21:51] And a lot of that has transpired because the chains haven't come here, other than the boardwalk.

[3:21:57] Because they can't do the file model circle and they can't check the box.

[3:22:00] And if it doesn't make it, it was a job.

[3:22:02] We've wanted that.

[3:22:03] I think we've had enough conversations.

[3:22:05] So that's why we've been up with all these very unique restaurants that are very good.

[3:22:09] It's made us very unique.

[3:22:10] I agree the dining experience ought to be one of the top things that we're pushing out to the market

[3:22:15] because we do have Italian food, Mexican food.

[3:22:19] We got Akylin, which is almost the five-star Michelin set right here.

[3:22:24] There's nobody in those here.

[3:22:26] We got T-bone Tom's.

[3:22:27] I mean, you just got to go down the list.

[3:22:29] Tukies with hamburgers.

[3:22:30] I mean, dude, it's keep going down the list of very unique places that actually hit top

[3:22:33] 10 in the state of Texas.

[3:22:36] Bar of coffee.

[3:22:37] I mean, all the things.

[3:22:38] But I mean, a flower shop.

[3:22:40] So the top 10 in the state of Texas.

[3:22:42] I mean, we just have a lot of unique things that I think we've got to do, a better job

[3:22:45] of marketing.

[3:22:46] And we're working at it, but I mean it's future council's going to continue to work on it because it's not just a

[3:22:52] Put a mandate on fix it. It's going to be something that's going to be continually just got to be part of this plan to

[3:22:56] 2040. This is where we want to go. This is where we're rolling the ball and we're going to have to keep the ball going because these faces up here have changed. I've seen it too many times.

[3:23:04] I mean I'm five years and I'm senior up here on the council so I mean faces change.

[3:23:08] Do we have any billboards for people that are coming in saying hey, come to Kima. This is what we have.

[3:23:14] I think we're working on the blue board to text on and we're working on some things.

[3:23:19] You got the constructions over, we can gain some traction and you don't like the welcome signs.

[3:23:24] Have we found out when this sign's going to be raised out here?

[3:23:27] I talked to him about that when it came for a hurricane kickoff and he was going to go look into it.

[3:23:32] He vaguely did remember that they were supposed to do that.

[3:23:36] So we probably need to follow up with Mr. President.

[3:23:38] Yeah, because like Cesar said, this is a drafter city, so we need them to stop.

[3:23:42] I know we have some access to that sign that we are not utilizing, so Casey D.C.

[3:23:46] We have so many impressions in here.

[3:23:50] I don't think recent time has been used at all.

[3:23:54] Give more information.

[3:23:57] It has to be a city event.

[3:24:00] We can't promote a restaurant or a band or something like that.

[3:24:06] It has to be a city event.

[3:24:07] And in the past, to speak to what Darren was saying, I think,

[3:24:11] not being able to check that box has worked to our advantage.

[3:24:14] And given us unique, great, wonderful things that are different

[3:24:19] enough that people will make that a destination restaurant

[3:24:22] or outing rather than going to the chains.

[3:24:26] And some years ago, a lot of the cruise lines

[3:24:31] went out here out of, I don't know if it was the port,

[3:24:37] They would have buses bringing those people over here because they come in the night before so I I know there was

[3:24:43] An attempt at capturing that but they don't go out and hear anymore. So it's a little bit

[3:24:49] Different way to capture them now, but I think that he's completely right and

[3:24:55] They they drive that direction from here to go gamble at Koshado

[3:25:01] We just need to encourage them to come back this way, you know, to do what we have to do over here, whether it's voting or anything.

[3:25:09] I mean, that's what we might be able to tap into that parking is a disaster down there.

[3:25:14] We go down there for Mardi Gras and it's always smoked.

[3:25:18] Well, you go in your golf park so you don't have to park.

[3:25:21] I thought we were going to go up to the arena down there for Mardi Gras to do on the pole.

[3:25:24] That's crazy.

[3:25:25] Partner with a charter bus or something.

[3:25:27] The signage that you're talking about is that?

[3:25:30] Textile has like done the 45, the blue signs.

[3:25:32] Blue signs probably.

[3:25:33] I think blue signs when you have to

[3:25:34] get the gas and the lodging and the rest of us.

[3:25:38] Well, okay, what are all the systems

[3:25:41] working on bringing gold wounds back around?

[3:25:46] Mine players used to have 40 awards,

[3:25:50] get different properties around,

[3:25:51] put the same number down to 45

[3:25:54] and then you have to have one time

[3:25:55] and try to bring them back as an ownership.

[3:25:58] I'm sorry, bring them back as an ownership

[3:25:59] or as in leasing.

[3:26:01] Get them through this next session.

[3:26:02] Sure.

[3:26:07] Well you don't you don't want to be considered something that's billboards aren't all of

[3:26:14] that aesthetic and in Houston they're that's one of the things you're trying to get rid

[3:26:21] of as much as possible as some of the billboards but my question is is there a way of getting

[3:26:26] a sign to address your point about advertising that tells what's going on, so it's constantly changing that you can change from working on digital marketing.

[3:26:39] I mean that's great. We talk about images and things like that.

[3:26:43] The sign out right in front of City Hall has not been raised since the road, but they're supposed to raise that sign.

[3:26:48] We have some access to that sign.

[3:26:49] Okay, and we've talked about the top of the community center if you drive North on 146 the third floor or fourth floor

[3:26:57] The community center is birds out you for 10 seconds. I mean you got their attention. I mean, it's a billboard on steroids

[3:27:03] Yeah, I mean cuz I do it every morning. Yeah, I mean we're trying to talk about maybe trying to figure out some way and

[3:27:09] Clean was our space, but try to make it something where we start

[3:27:13] Advertising the people that hey Kim is right here because you just fly over every day

[3:27:17] You're not really going to chemum. You're just hitting the fly over you're flying back over and back. You're not ever hitting our

[3:27:23] Bayes

[3:27:24] Because you've got two three ways in here. They also help and find not where you are

[3:27:32] Three and going from one city to the other

[3:27:36] Chance at that

[3:27:38] Yeah, it's still kind of just now it won't even finish

[3:27:42] That's a nine and six.

[3:27:43] That's what I said.

[3:27:43] When we need to put the entry sign, there's still doing the rude.

[3:27:46] Yeah.

[3:27:46] So, I mean, we've had their wait and it's been talked about.

[3:27:49] I've actually got the land from the landowner permission.

[3:27:52] I've already got all that in place, but I don't want to put something up in text.

[3:27:54] Yeah.

[3:27:55] Well, if you came up with a design, I would love to have that conversation.

[3:27:59] It's like Port Arthur.

[3:28:01] They've got the new signs coming into Port Arthur, Texas, which grabs your attention.

[3:28:06] I'm like, something unique for chemo where we can have all the entry points.

[3:28:14] Yeah really cool graphics that sort of thing as going from either way from north to south that you all you see those and it automatically makes you realize where you are

[3:28:23] In the

[3:28:24] Seeking

[3:28:26] Well, if you come out somewhere designed or somebody comes out, I would love to see people's ideas on what that looks like on the entry

[3:28:31] Just I don't think it needs to be huge because we're all just pretty much straight up, but I mean get your attention

[3:28:37] Yeah, yeah.

[3:28:38] I've got to go for years and I'm like quite impressed that they actually did that.

[3:28:42] Yeah.

[3:28:43] Well, I like the idea of changing.

[3:28:45] So from day to day, y'all can make it change.

[3:28:48] That's a little lower traffic and I think that's the people that actually gravitate to our

[3:28:51] town.

[3:28:52] People are going to go on top there and it's going to work.

[3:28:54] Well, but that's why I say I'm talking about a year's center, where you just grab

[3:28:58] ones like Keema, Keema, Keema, because you forget about them on the obviously it's just

[3:29:02] okay.

[3:29:03] You sit on this traffic.

[3:29:04] I mean, if I have a call, you're going to sit on top of that bridge for 30 minutes to the sky.

[3:29:09] Yeah.

[3:29:09] People hate it, it's getting worse because they're going down the one lane on the construction.

[3:29:12] I know.

[3:29:13] They're good, they're good.

[3:29:14] Yeah, we should.

[3:29:14] We had for five years.

[3:29:15] Yeah, awesome.

[3:29:16] When I get finished, you know, it could be a lot better, but it will take a while.

[3:29:20] Oh, yeah.

[3:29:21] So last night, the-

[3:29:23] Every calls will take a little bit.

[3:29:24] I'm like, I don't know if you just get ready.

[3:29:26] So last night we voted, it's DC-voted to approve the Kima Digital Project as an actual project.

[3:29:32] I created an outline for us incorporating digital signage along the lower part of a part of 146.

[3:29:39] One of the things that's interesting, we look at text out, you got 11 million people going over 146 every year.

[3:29:47] And when we first talked to those consultants, they're like, why aren't you talking to these guys?

[3:29:52] And so that's what we're planning on doing, so we just got that started, we got a good outline.

[3:29:55] And more importantly, we're through the team of Business Alliance.

[3:30:00] We're looking at partnering with all of our businesses in KBA for them to cost share with us and do in YouTube style, six, seven, second, bumper ads that we can do on this. And the idea being that you pay for part of it, and you pay for subscription. But you have to do it through the scheme of business lines, which allows us to control it. But our goal is in the first year to have at least 30 of these done and up on these signs to tell people who we are, what we do, and come see us and spend money here.

[3:30:29] Where would this be?

[3:30:31] Pardon?

[3:30:31] Where would this be?

[3:30:32] Well, the first one we proposed is to replace obviously the one on 2094 and 146 the one right

[3:30:39] outside the community center.

[3:30:40] It's very dull and it's almost dead so that needs to go first.

[3:30:44] Second would be on the southeast corner of Sixth Street and 146 where that little cops of

[3:30:51] trees is right now.

[3:30:52] That's city owned property.

[3:30:53] Now, you know, when you think about four million people that are coming to

[3:30:59] Sixth Street. So we have an opportunity to talk to them there as well. One of the things I mentioned last night was the issue that when you have a vintage shopping area, it's great because you don't, it's an alternative to all of the chains, right?

[3:31:11] But also the drawback is that some of these places are hidden in a cool car creamery is the best ice cream within 50 miles here, but unless you know what's here, you don't know what's here.

[3:31:20] So when

[3:31:25] you're coming in, when you're coming in to chemo, we need to tell you, cool cow, Mona Lisa, fish and chips, whatever it is, you know, the steakhouse, people forget about even people who live for forget about this, right?

[3:31:35] So the idea is let people know what's going on, not just about the business guys, but we have chemo general tourism messaging, we've got emergency messaging, anything we want to do.

[3:31:44] Another issue you talked about in terms of destination having the monuments, we're kind of trying to incorporate the entry and exit monuments into the Kima digital project to make it sort of contiguous, you know, and cibionic throughout the path through Kima.

[3:31:59] But the idea is we want to let them know what's going on, but you also want to let them know you're at the destination.

[3:32:05] So, one of the options we had in the Gateway Park, which is now the name of the Linear Park, is when you look at our pilings that hold up the freeway, they're perfectly segmented just like our lighthouses.

[3:32:16] So, we could do those in blue and white, we can, you know, we can do a lot of things with what's already here to let people know you're here.

[3:32:25] But there's lots of opportunities to do exactly what he's talking about.

[3:32:28] But first and foremost is, you know, when you go talk to our business owners that are over there in lighthouse district, you get the big eye.

[3:32:35] Because it's everything they got and they're all in on this and they're just wondering how are we helping them you know

[3:32:42] You realize we just need to get their profile raised and let them know you know that we're we're here supporting you guys

[3:32:47] So this project should go a long way to to get and get and started there

[3:32:52] so

[3:32:54] I'm playing time keeper

[3:32:55] They might have any other comment you want to make Tom sorry for cutting you off, but but I do want to go to be

[3:33:00] Which we're kind of segway to that already beyond the boardwalk, but I do want to stop at the boardwalk a second

[3:33:05] And I don't think there's something we didn't do a good enough job of boasting

[3:33:08] Bussing you're here. We can go ahead and talk about the boardwalk a second

[3:33:11] But we've got the second best rated boardwalk in

[3:33:15] the in the entire country

[3:33:18] It was in the top 10 and was final boating came out. We finished at number two correct

[3:33:25] somewhere new Jersey, where was it while would, just south of, yeah, they're all together.

[3:33:32] So I think we don't do enough to boast that.

[3:33:38] I think we talked about what makes it special.

[3:33:42] I think it'd be hard to deny that the boardwalk is one of those things, and even the excitement

[3:33:47] of what could be with different segments and things that we could do with the boardwalk

[3:33:50] making that downtown area more walkable.

[3:33:53] I think that there's a lot of synergy that's available to that, but we talked about being

[3:33:58] a foodie town.

[3:34:00] We've talked about eco-terrorism, and you sprinkle that with a little industry, you know, there's

[3:34:05] a little industry happening here in Kima.

[3:34:08] That Anders Road, there's a little bit of industry going on there there in kind of down 518

[3:34:14] and in certain corridors.

[3:34:16] So it's happening in little tidbits.

[3:34:18] It's we are becoming our own little metropolis of our own, if you will, with some of the things that are sprinkled in.

[3:34:25] But I'll take away from also we talked about some of the actual development you talk about workforce housing.

[3:34:34] The code department is going to hopefully fill some of that need.

[3:34:38] But you talk about the Marina, there's 300 valet boat slips coming in.

[3:34:43] That's 300 potential folks of clientele that are going to be coming in here and being within

[3:34:48] the city limits that we want to capitalize and market with them.

[3:34:51] So we've talked to them about some of some of co-marketing so that when they come,

[3:34:55] if they're going to go on the boat, are they going to cater anything?

[3:34:58] Are they going to go afterwards?

[3:35:00] We're going to go to before. I'm going to stop by Walmart because you want to get some, you know, slippers or some sunscreen. So those are things that we want to try to focus on a little bit more. So I think those are some of the opportunities that we have coming up in the very near future. So I'm managing B would see here. But what else are we missing? What else makes chemo special?

[3:35:20] We mentioned the cool cows and the, you know, that's what he, uh, and the fish and chips. I think that's a uniqueness. I think the artist something that we're missing that we could probably capitalize more.

[3:35:31] When someone asks me, tell me what Kima is, and I kind of summarize it like my elevator pitch is saying it's Austin meets Key West

[3:35:39] with some golf carts

[3:35:40] and everybody goes

[3:35:42] Okay, I get that

[3:35:44] Is that our identity? Is that what we're going to be?

[3:35:48] And that's the question that I want to kind of help get answered here amongst everybody here because

[3:35:52] Where are you going to have such an neglect? I mean, we have how many residents live at the Huntington?

[3:35:59] 144 apartments

[3:36:00] So if I had to guess as maybe 180 residents, to 200.

[3:36:10] So you've got 10% of the community lives right there in that building.

[3:36:14] I mean, within that actual complex.

[3:36:17] We've got such opportunity where we've got a mix of a, I don't want to call it senior housing, but it could be, right?

[3:36:25] For the most part, you told me that a lot of folks that live there, we should've got new families moving into the Dakota apartment.

[3:36:32] And you've got established families in the chemo-oaks, and you have semi-pre-retirement families sometimes moving into the chemo-crossing.

[3:36:40] You've got such a mix of folks here, but you have golf carts, and you've got water, and you've got great restaurants, and you've got a boardwalk, and you've got the guest or center.

[3:36:50] I mean, I don't think we prioritize enough of how unique we are, how awesome we are, and what makes us special.

[3:37:00] But am I missing something because I'm one of the newest people here in the room.

[3:37:05] So what do we miss?

[3:37:07] Is there anything else?

[3:37:08] Because if that's it, that's a great list to have.

[3:37:10] I mean, I personally would love to see more art here.

[3:37:14] I think the mural park is beautiful, I've tried several times,

[3:38:01] or the bridge,

[3:38:04] and it looks

[3:38:04] and

[3:38:10] work out in the

[3:38:13] area where you can let your...

[3:38:40] Yeah, there's not a feeling of connection in the sense that you've got Kima crossing,

[3:38:47] you've got Kima, oh she's got the lighthouse this one, you've got the boardwalk. And if you're,

[3:38:53] you know, I've lived here almost three years, there's not a natural connectivity. So there's a lot

[3:39:03] of stuff and yet it feels disjointed. The plan was so for the parks to all be connected eventually.

[3:39:10] That was the overall plan, there would be a way provided that you could walk through all of the opportunities.

[3:39:20] It would be nice if there were wayfinding signs and things painted to make it look more cohesive as you were talking about earlier.

[3:39:31] Sometimes when I go out of town, I engage a place by, but I want to live here.

[3:39:35] It's usually my first thing, I spend a week in there or whatever, and I'm like, can I live here?

[3:39:39] What I want to live here? I want to get enough to live here.

[3:39:43] And there's, those are few and far between for me because I do love it here so much.

[3:39:50] Although we've grown by the sea for our pants and there's no zoning and we can't put that

[3:39:54] that toothpaste back in the tube now, probably, and that kind of thing.

[3:40:00] It's still a very unique, wonderful place that I like, and I don't maybe like it in August, you know, it's hot, but some of those other places I name that I do like, they have a similar thing. They have a writing month or a this or that. I mean, everybody's got something, you know? Do y'all have, are there a lot of artists that live in the area? Well, yes, yes, let's say. I would say from Galveston to Houston there's any

[3:40:29] amount of them in any platform or media that you could dream of you know yeah so

[3:40:38] that that is a resource that you can pull upon and that like if I'm just saying

[3:40:45] okay you could even almost maybe you have an artist colony or something like

[3:40:48] that where people come down here maybe just stay for a few days and maybe it's

[3:40:53] there's there's a Zen component of it or there's a painting component of it or

[3:40:58] or whatever, so it could be a place where you can come down

[3:41:01] and just relax and get in touch with different parts

[3:41:05] of yourself or something like that.

[3:41:07] But the art and the art type of stuff could help that.

[3:41:11] I thought you two brought up really good point.

[3:41:13] I mean, to me, you know, having been immersed

[3:41:15] in that linear gateway park planning, you know,

[3:41:18] since it goes all the way from Bell, you know,

[3:41:20] all the way to the water, there's a unique opportunity

[3:41:23] and we've been really actively working on this

[3:41:26] to create that visual connection, right, from end to end, right, that you know you're in chema.

[3:41:32] It's tight, you know, even if, like painting the piling, it's a part of that.

[3:41:35] You know you're somewhere, right?

[3:41:36] So that, to me, it gives a great opportunity to provide that visual connection.

[3:41:39] But the mixed-use path also gives us opportunity to provide a physical connection.

[3:41:43] Now, Ronny had brought that up a couple years ago that there was a tech-stop plan

[3:41:47] to widen the sidewalks on 2094 and 518 and possibly 96 that would allow you to come out of your neighborhood,

[3:41:55] that get on your golf cart and come down and then connect to the mixed shoes path at that point wherever you want to go.

[3:42:00] They already do it clearly like shorts because it comes down third street and they're in there.

[3:42:04] And I'm like, man, this would be great if all neighbors let's have this access and now you've got your golf cart neighborhood.

[3:42:09] So I think we have an opportunity to do, kill a couple of birds with that one stone, like about three birds with that one stone.

[3:42:16] Make that four, excuse me, because we do, you know, we did talk about a while back about, you know,

[3:42:20] Pickleball courts or workout areas and most of that linear park is too dangerous to do that

[3:42:25] But six treat on the west side. They're just south of where we want to do the big

[3:42:30] Exhibit space or is perfect for

[3:42:34] You know outdoor workout facilities and things like that. So we've lots of opportunities to do exactly what you're talking about

[3:42:40] And I think like some physically visually and physically we're going to be able to fly that connection

[3:42:46] And that kind of leads me into C&D because I think those are the two the same

[3:42:50] when you say what opportunity should be prioritized,

[3:42:52] and what do you want to see, Kema?

[3:42:53] When I see talk about Kema, I want people at 2040 to go,

[3:42:57] man, it's not Christmas, unless you've been to Kema,

[3:43:00] went to the Christmas festival.

[3:43:02] It's not, you didn't have crawfish

[3:43:04] unless you went to the Kema,

[3:43:05] crawfish boiled down there in Gateway Park.

[3:43:07] It's crazy.

[3:43:08] You want to be known for something,

[3:43:09] we're a destination where you have to go

[3:43:11] once or twice a year, but in order for us to do that,

[3:43:14] we've got to make those infrastructure investments.

[3:43:16] We've got to finish Gateway Park.

[3:43:17] We've got to finish the boat, Ram.

[3:43:18] We've got to create that outdoor all-weather space. We've got to

[3:43:23] Create additional parking in downtown. We've got to get rid of the direct parking. We've got to create walking spaces

[3:43:28] We should put a shed over six straight create the people spaces. We want we'll create that vibrancy

[3:43:33] We need but without the infrastructure

[3:43:35] Investments we're be here five years talking the same thing

[3:43:38] Well, Tom, that's the challenge. I mean and you're speaking to it

[3:43:41] It's what do we want to prioritize?

[3:43:44] guys that we're willing to complete and not and that's what you guys have talked

[3:43:51] to. It's like with the change of leadership, there's all these great ideas.

[3:43:58] Well, it's like my media last night. I mean, I was looking for champions. I don't I'll

[3:44:01] back any project if we have a champion on KCDC, but nobody's going to champion a project and

[3:44:05] there's not enough interest in that board for us to even explore that idea. And we can

[3:44:09] We really do think about 850,000 due to loss grants.

[3:44:13] So we have the exact ability.

[3:44:14] If I got a board that's willing to work,

[3:44:16] I want us to put forth that effort.

[3:44:18] Because if you don't have a champion that's down,

[3:44:20] it will never be successful.

[3:44:21] It's just what I've watched it to me, Dom.

[3:44:23] Somebody's got to be responsible.

[3:44:25] The staff's too short.

[3:44:26] They get pulled to ten different directions.

[3:44:28] If somebody's not leading that charge

[3:44:30] and making sure it stays on the rails,

[3:44:33] it never gets done.

[3:44:34] And nothing gets seized or any of the staff,

[3:44:36] it's just they get pulled in 16,000 different directions.

[3:44:38] And somebody's got to keep them, you know, make sure it stays on top of that list, or stays on the list, just put it that way.

[3:44:44] So they keep going the right direction.

[3:44:46] Well prior to COVID, there was a lot of dress shops and gift shops on 6th Street, rather than bars and restaurants.

[3:44:54] And there was a lady that lived her at the time, and she was a champion of Christmas.

[3:45:01] And she made that happen. She organized it, worked hard, but she had a, it wasn't a pub crawl,

[3:45:10] you took something around and got it stamped in each, you know, place got a lot of chocolate

[3:45:14] here and wossled there and whatever. But she drove business to several businesses, you know,

[3:45:20] because you, I don't know, you got your ticket in the drawing at the end and get some great prize or whatever.

[3:45:25] but Christmas and chemo was a huge, huge, huge thing

[3:45:29] because of that one individual predominantly

[3:45:31] and her organization skills and pre-planning.

[3:45:35] But COVID really know that because the teach couldn't stay

[3:45:38] in business and they all became borrowers.

[3:45:41] Right.

[3:45:42] And there's not a family friendly at that point,

[3:45:45] whereas it was before.

[3:45:47] And they're struggling to bring in

[3:45:48] the kind of retailers you're talking about.

[3:45:50] And again, we want better retailers.

[3:45:52] We need a better retail environment.

[3:45:53] I

[3:45:57] think it's that aspect of that area, though, because I bought obvious cars, things, unique

[3:46:04] gifts down there, clothing, everything.

[3:46:07] I was a proponent of shopping clothing, and I don't have that option any more.

[3:46:13] Right.

[3:46:15] Not like we used to, there's many of them, several of them.

[3:46:24] That is a good segue to help us prioritize what are the things we're focusing on in the

[3:46:32] next one to three years.

[3:46:35] I want to mention that we have applied to be an opportunity zone in the 2.0.

[3:46:40] I think that that could drive potential development.

[3:46:43] We've had some preliminary discussions on some facade programming to help some of the businesses along our major corridors.

[3:46:49] Obviously business retention is a very big deal, the economy the way it is right now, something that we're dealing with challenges.

[3:46:54] We want to make sure we retain the businesses that are here.

[3:46:57] Any loss of any business could be detrimental to us because we rely so much on them.

[3:47:03] Brazil and C when it comes to drainage and things of that nature were very focused on finishing a lot of these open projects

[3:47:10] I hate having plans on the shelf. I would be remiss. There's two members that are not here, but they did both send me messages, both Megan and Jacob about their support for certain things, and I'd like to share that if it's possible of what they both said.

[3:47:25] Megan says she's in support of the boat ramp, the schematic design for Gateway Park, which

[3:47:31] is that next step that I was recommended through KCDC last night.

[3:47:34] And any other smaller projects we can tackle this year along with the possibility of six

[3:47:38] street depending on what happens with that situation.

[3:47:41] Jacob talked about walkability in the lighthouse district.

[3:47:44] As you know, we do have, we were funded for that HGAC livable centers grant waiting for the

[3:47:50] last confirmation so we can kind of get that kick started but that's going to

[3:47:56] kind of change that corridor down there and the walkability of that corridor but

[3:47:59] add this to be tied to drainage because in order to add sidewalks we're

[3:48:02] going to have to close some of those drains and curb and gutter and

[3:48:06] print drains and so on and so forth so that might be a little bit challenging but

[3:48:09] that's some of the aspects of what we could add but definitely pro connecting

[3:48:13] hotels small businesses and the boardwalk pro the conference center this

[3:48:20] sports facility, completing 57 Acre Park, Gateway Park.

[3:48:24] Those are priorities and driving more sales tax to feed future projects.

[3:48:29] So those are their two components that I wanted to fill in since you have two members here and

[3:48:32] two members that could not be here, could not make it.

[3:48:35] But as we continue with that opportunity zone, assuming that we're able to be successful,

[3:48:38] that could be a game changer for us.

[3:48:42] Obviously bringing in hotels, we have one hotel that's here now in the possibility of recruiting some others here soon.

[3:48:48] As we mentioned, a lot of folks are coming to Kima, but they're not staying in Kima, so other cities around us are benefiting from that, because they'll come to visit, but they won't stay here.

[3:48:57] So we're looking at that, and Devon tell me with the hotel study, are free that we're going to put out here soon.

[3:49:04] Building on some industry to kind of keep people here during the daytime, beating to that, more of that transient crowd.

[3:49:10] Having priorities in place.

[3:49:13] I've heard more art. I've heard that as a component. It seems to me like we want to be better

[3:49:20] at the things that we are already good at in 2040s when it sounds like we want to be

[3:49:26] better at tourism, we want to be better at being restaurants, better at eco-tourism,

[3:49:32] better at telling the world what we're good at. I think those are the things that we need

[3:49:37] address internally from our end but we need Pied Piper's as well. I think those

[3:49:43] things are going to make us better but the walkability seems to be like the

[3:49:46] biggest component of what we need to do and also priorities the next one to

[3:49:50] three years are going to be closing out some of these projects. I think once we get

[3:49:54] that done and then close them out and then start some of these other ones I think

[3:49:57] and that will be the greatest success from my perspective of what I'm doing.

[3:50:00] Can I see so far?

[3:50:02] But if we could touch a little bit on the community center and the event center component on that just for a second. As far as the potential economic driver, but also community drive, that the entire project could have. The intent is for it to be a community center first. Okay. And could we have marked it better? Yes, so on and so forth. I get it. We do not want to be in the business of operating.

[3:50:29] that building, we're not going to be in the business of operating that building.

[3:50:33] We don't have the capacity to, we don't have the budget to, we don't have it in many capacities.

[3:50:39] The beauty of it is, is of a component that we have now, we can still offer that community center perspective

[3:50:46] without having to pay for it because it'll be paid for through some of the events and so forth that would take place during different times.

[3:50:52] We want to make sure that whatever happens with that, if it does become, if it does come in a version or not.

[3:50:57] But as we know with the eight parcels that we have available, something's going to go in these eight parcels eventually, right?

[3:51:03] Whenever the water situation gets, something's going to go there.

[3:51:06] What that is, if they don't come to us for variance requests, we don't really have a say because we don't have zoning.

[3:51:12] So whatever, not in that part, I'll talk about all the parcels.

[3:51:16] So is zoning something that you want to, you know, you mentioned about putting the two days back into the, thank

[3:51:26] you because it's not, I'm sorry.

[3:51:28] All right, and I heard that I was like, I just got the visual and it was just like, I get it.

[3:51:32] Okay.

[3:51:35] Is that something you want to try to tackle?

[3:51:38] Are we going to try to get into sectors of how we're going to try to get stuff done?

[3:51:42] That's the tail end of what these questions need to be because the boat ramps letting in January.

[3:51:48] 57 acre park is rolling.

[3:51:51] Assuming that you guys approved whatever it would be proposed in KCD's budget, this linear

[3:51:55] in person to get started.

[3:51:57] Construction's gonna end at some point on text dot.

[3:52:00] So some of these fighters are, yeah, well,

[3:52:02] maybe not ever end, but it's gonna end eventually

[3:52:07] before it starts again, and there'll be an ending

[3:52:09] before in the beginning, I'm sure.

[3:52:17] It's very likely, but all in all,

[3:52:21] I think that what

[3:52:27] else do we wanna see accomplish

[3:52:30] and driven through this.

[3:52:32] And what should we take to the community next?

[3:52:35] Because right now obviously this group's gonna take what they got from staff

[3:52:38] and staffs, pros, cons, needs, wants.

[3:52:41] We're gonna take your pros, cons, needs, wants,

[3:52:45] and they're gonna encapsulate that from the residents and we're gonna need some help.

[3:52:49] So I think some of you might live in the chemo crossing area.

[3:52:53] I mean, I think we're extremely part kevy for small as we are.

[3:52:55] And how do we consolidate maybe one of the parks into the 57-acre park and not getting rid of any of the amenities, but make it in the 57-acre park

[3:53:04] the flagship of this town because it is a large piece of property. I just don't know why we have some of the parks and the maintenance of all these parks and

[3:53:14] there's a lot to it and we don't do a very good job of maintaining the parks and our budget's not conducive to handle all these parks.

[3:53:21] and KCDC from the get-go has made the commitment to take care of the 57-acre park, so that gets it off the city's back moving forward, so that we're not in the park business.

[3:53:32] I mean, that's just my thoughts and process. I mean, I know people use the other parks, and maybe they're necessary, but I just, I know we're very park heavy.

[3:53:44] and well, you're about to technically add two more

[3:53:48] when you think about the leading or gateway park

[3:53:50] and the boat raft.

[3:53:51] Well, those are different.

[3:53:54] We go back to demographics again, though,

[3:53:56] because we were talking about children

[3:53:58] or we were talking about adult usage.

[3:54:00] So I mean, well, that's what I'm saying,

[3:54:02] but you're talking about the CN Park was a skate park, I think,

[3:54:06] and basketball and tennis was what it originated in this.

[3:54:10] And now we're trying to figure out what that looks like,

[3:54:12] but I'm just saying, is there enough,

[3:54:14] maybe 80% of our population backs up to the 52nd,

[3:54:17] seven in the park, so I mean that park has

[3:54:20] should be the flagship of this town

[3:54:22] and we're trying to make sure that it precedes that way.

[3:54:26] We don't have that many children on this side of 146.

[3:54:30] It tends to be an older population without children.

[3:54:35] Most of the children here are in the new area

[3:54:40] And you have a Stonehenge, I think it's called, and then the part of it.

[3:54:45] Yeah, well that's true.

[3:54:46] Because every 25 or 30 kids get off that bus on 10th Street when I...

[3:54:50] It opens your head in mind when you see something like that, because I think the thing that you do, but no kids.

[3:54:55] I see those kids when school starts.

[3:54:57] Yeah, I just remember, you know.

[3:54:59] It brings up.

[3:55:00] Yes, there's an apartment complex over there. It's older that it's just out of sight out of mind, but there is a lot of kids that live in that apartment complex. Most people don't even know it's there.

[3:55:09] I think that maybe looking at parks, we think of our residents as a microcosm.

[3:55:17] And this is actually a piece of statement.

[3:55:20] I think of one of the residents on and how a resident's taking care of a bigger space

[3:55:27] for the next few years or the day, and things like that.

[3:55:30] I think that's a microcosm of potential big-time tourism.

[3:55:34] And, you know, daytime activities here, and people come here.

[3:55:39] If people come here, they can take advantage of places to do things or things to do.

[3:55:45] If you're in a day or every evening since that time, all these things are the best weather.

[3:55:49] Then, people that could come here will also be there.

[3:55:53] There's still a lot that's kind of a representation.

[3:55:57] And so, you know, you're wondering why you take advantage of these things because it's available

[3:56:06] I think that's going to go along with, sure, I think that's going to go along with the visitor's family, also.

[3:56:15] There are those who can be expressed.

[3:56:19] And that's why I'm going to put in a talk about the rest of my head.

[3:56:23] I think that priority is to be taken care of on residents and things you have first, because that will apply to this issue.

[3:56:33] I think our main priority should be funding extra public works and extra staff.

[3:56:41] I think that should come first for a lot of things that come out there.

[3:56:45] Because I think if that's done for ahead of that, when you get to the point where we are expanding,

[3:57:04] I feel like those things, the public age should be personal problems, because those things

[3:57:10] are appropriate.

[3:58:06] I think you've made a really good point because what you've made me think of is quality

[3:58:10] of life issues, and if you're developing so much for the visitors and then not enough

[3:58:16] for the residents, like the local parts could be more of a quality of life issue versus

[3:58:22] the bigger parts, but what you're saying is the best part of a priority is quality of

[3:58:27] life for residents. It's critical as well as developing these other things. Did I hear

[3:58:35] I think that's been one of the balancing acts we've tried to do is board sitting up here

[3:58:45] for years but all the locals wanted to stay and what all of the visitors wanted to be.

[3:58:52] And for example when I was raising my children the boardwalk went in and they had all that water fountain out in the middle of the

[3:59:00] class. Boy, I took my kids down there all the time. I didn't know it was swimming pool,

[3:59:05] but they run around and get all tired and go home and go night and night. Rest like crazy.

[3:59:11] But I wouldn't get to go down there on a Friday or Saturday, you know. I don't know. Tuesday or

[3:59:16] Wednesday. You wouldn't get to the local and you know none of the visitors were there. I could

[3:59:20] do that. You know. One thing on the eco side that I think don't forget about because it's

[3:59:26] there. It's not talked about much in this town. It's the birding in the 57-acre park.

[3:59:33] I mean, we're residents to some bald eagles now. The Mexican eagles migrate through here.

[3:59:38] There's guys out there with probably 30 or 40,000 throwing cameras out there taking pictures of birds

[3:59:43] that are aware of the park and we're going to leave it as natural as possible because

[3:59:47] we do have a wild life still in this area that's getting pushed out because of building it.

[3:59:51] I mean we're seeing, I'm seeing deer where I've never seen them before in the last couple

[3:59:55] of weeks because it's just the developments that's pushing them out of their home.

[3:59:59] So we're hoping that

[4:00:30] All court and secret capitalized in it, and then right at Pirates Beach, right on down the

[4:00:36] road for Pirates Beach, there's a huge birding park down there. And they have ramps and all

[4:00:44] kinds of things, walk out out and watch for birds and tech pictures of them. I'll get Caesar.

[4:00:49] Do you sell that brochure? Robert Moon. Robert, one of the residents of Chemo just passed away,

[4:00:54] But he made a brochure of all the birds that he he why have one at the house, too

[4:01:00] But he uh, he did an analysis of their detention pond

[4:01:04] Not down the street from me, but it's right back up to the park

[4:01:07] So he has a list of all the most common birds that he had encountered in the area

[4:01:12] So it's got some very unique. I'll get it to you. I'll say I got at the house

[4:01:17] But it was something that was done by a local gentleman and he actually just did a brochure on it and

[4:01:22] But I mean, there's a lot more than just that, that was the most common, I guess, gravitational

[4:01:26] words.

[4:01:28] Transient words, but there's pretty cool words that migrate through here as well.

[4:01:33] So, it's a lot bigger thing than people realize.

[4:01:38] Well, our time has almost come to a close, I'd like to bring this in to finish this discussion

[4:01:44] because obviously this group has a lot to take from these notes, and obviously you guys both

[4:01:48] But both boards play a pivotal role in whatever is going to happen next as they prepare

[4:01:54] Synopsis of this and then look at the stouses of what staff is set and put together and then obviously get community input as

[4:02:00] So what are the things that we need to

[4:02:04] Drive next and what are things that you would like our thoughts are to go to

[4:02:08] chemo ox

[4:02:10] Huntington

[4:02:12] To chemo crossing

[4:02:14] Does any other groups or clusters I mean we don't just challenge this board and

[4:02:18] reaching out to people because like you did the AARP grant last night and I've

[4:02:22] already got you eight contacts run and walked this town on a daily or weekly

[4:02:26] basis for us to start reaching out to people and get their input maybe we need

[4:02:31] people to they keep saying we're not listening to them but you got to show up and

[4:02:34] tell me what you want I can't true imaginary figure out what you want if you don't

[4:02:38] show up and tell us so I would hope that this board would do a really good job

[4:02:41] We're trying to reach out as many people as possible, making them aware, and trying to get as many people in attendance so we can get feedback and get some data that actually people were passionate about, because they get passionate and have problems with you.

[4:02:53] We might be learning something that we didn't know. I had a resident email me out of the blue and say that they thought that we should push for the event center and we should add an ice drink to it.

[4:03:05] I was like, I didn't see that, I didn't think, yeah, there's a big skating market down

[4:03:14] here in an ice cream market and an ice hockey market.

[4:03:18] And then I started doing some research on it and sure enough, there's discussion of

[4:03:23] you know, using getting an NHL team in the future.

[4:03:27] So we talked about extracting pro sports, maybe it's not a pro sport, maybe it's a semi-pro

[4:03:31] or a, you know, a G-League or whatever the G-League is wrong, whatever it is.

[4:03:36] I mean there's a lot of opportunity things for us to do to add to the identity and to

[4:03:40] who we are and again who we want to be when we grow up.

[4:03:44] I want us to think that 2040s when we've grown to the next phase and that that's where we're

[4:03:50] going far ahead.

[4:03:51] A lot of these strap pads are done as five-year plans.

[4:03:53] We wanted to cast a little bit further so we can have more of a run way to get there because

[4:03:58] there's a lot of things right now.

[4:03:59] There's a lot of different ideas.

[4:04:00] And we talked about changes in people and changes in boards and volunteers and people moving and moving away and staff changes and so forth.

[4:04:07] So I think we're heading the right direction.

[4:04:10] This is the direction that I think we needed.

[4:04:12] I think you guys got what you needed on the swimming.

[4:04:14] Did you get the feedback and the other questions you'd like to talk about?

[4:04:17] Just some more details, even in Costa Rica, they did a deal in Cocoa, where I resigned most of the time, hopefully.

[4:04:23] They brought in 30 artists with spray paint artwork and did like entryways and did like seven locations

[4:04:29] where you entered the beach and stuff with the walls and were deteriorating and stuff and

[4:04:32] ended artwork. It's really nice. I'll send you some pictures and try to get some more

[4:04:36] details one down next this next week. That would be great. What you can do is you can bring

[4:04:41] them in. So the artist and the artist. The artist as well as artwork so that people can start

[4:04:47] filling in places that are designated or artwork and give them either a theme or whatever

[4:04:53] the case. It's really nice, honestly. I was kind of surprised actually, but the eye was very nice

[4:04:57] and then they're done for like four or five days, it was...

[4:05:00] I'm going to ask for a free paint norrers, but there's probably 30 of them to have in different groups that were just free painting either side of buildings or side of walls or that they brought a nice bright color to a lot of places where it was just gone and run down and say that it's a little bit.

[4:05:14] I feel north of Carolina two weeks ago and one day my girlfriend who I used to

[4:05:21] ask me where I would do I said I just want to drop right now there is so much

[4:05:24] artwork everywhere in the city there are so many murals and of course I had to go

[4:05:28] to the famous dolly carton mural and take my picture there but I'm being

[4:05:32] almost every other other side of a building had a mural on it I was a man I

[4:05:39] I actually see that only in large towns,

[4:05:41] and I will ask those pretty big,

[4:05:43] but it's very warm and inviting and beautiful, you know.

[4:05:48] We're doing some work, also working with Gordon

[4:05:51] and they're really big

[4:05:53] into the murals on the sides of buildings.

[4:05:56] Yeah, I love it.

[4:05:57] I love it.

[4:05:57] It's like, I don't know, it just makes the...

[4:06:01] You can even, it's almost life-inding.

[4:06:04] You know, the one with a big eagle on it down there.

[4:06:06] Or the, you know, whatever.

[4:06:08] Where is the Walmart? Well, it's over there.

[4:06:10] But it also allows you to introduce some history.

[4:06:14] And to that people can walk around and see.

[4:06:17] I know, and I'll drive behind Walmart.

[4:06:19] I'm just looking at all of that over there.

[4:06:21] I can paint that home.

[4:06:23] I can paint that one.

[4:06:26] So we do have an intern.

[4:06:29] We do have an intern starting Mayor Collins knows, at least Wagner.

[4:06:35] One of the tasks that I gave her that she was super excited about.

[4:06:37] It was more her idea of the mine is she's going to make an inventory of all of the spaces in town that would be suitable for

[4:06:44] murals, sculptures, et cetera. And so we'll have basically an inventory of this would be a great spot for a mural.

[4:06:50] This would be a great spot for a sculpture. This would be a great spot for signage. And that's one of the things that Walmart was what generated that idea.

[4:06:59] And along that line, since we talk about identity, and I don't know if this is a project,

[4:07:04] KCDC, or if we want to do it as a city, or even hot,

[4:07:10] Galveston has the turtles, Dickinson

[4:07:13] has the seagulls, right, or the de pelicans, okay, herons, help me out here, Seabroek has

[4:07:21] the pelicans, and there was one of those.

[4:07:23] do we want to have something? Do we want to be the lighthouses? We want to be

[4:07:28] the sailboats. We want to have something like that that we put in front of the

[4:07:32] businesses because again people will gravitate to say that hey there's a

[4:07:36] sponsorship of that. There's a lot of community service stuff that we're doing

[4:07:39] like the Adopt-A-Tree program, the Adopt-A-Drain program that we're trying to roll

[4:07:43] out. We really want to get more of that sense of community to again get the

[4:07:47] folks, the residents that are living here to get more involved but also to get

[4:07:52] that sense of community and that vibrancy back. So is that something that we want to

[4:07:56] try to tackle in the future, some type of identity project that way? Do we want to think

[4:08:00] of something? You know, is it, could it be many lighthouses in front of different businesses

[4:08:07] or something? I don't know. I don't know if it's lighthouses or something.

[4:08:10] big, huge murals. I think there's more impact for both for that. Yeah, because there's a piece of

[4:08:18] that where if there's you were talking about consistency, if there's even if it's just a piece of

[4:08:24] the artwork or a piece of the science that's consistent from one to the other, then you start seeing

[4:08:29] and that is being one of a whole.

[4:08:31] Yeah, it's a story.

[4:08:33] Yeah.

[4:08:34] There's a thing right over there in the wall.

[4:08:37] That might make a good mural somewhere.

[4:08:43] But what does it have, so votes in my house,

[4:08:45] so could mine a vote together?

[4:08:48] Yeah.

[4:08:53] Yeah, sorry.

[4:08:54] That's one of the things we say.

[4:08:55] It's one o'clock on Wednesday.

[4:08:56] That means that's our test generator.

[4:08:58] That means we are right on time.

[4:09:00] Any closing comments?

[4:09:01] Yeah, if you all think of anything, please let Cesar know and he'll let me know, just so if you think of something later on, because I'm usually that way where I wish I'd say, just let Cesar know so he can pass it on to the gal.

[4:09:20] Can we go around the room, Sean, do you have anything Tom? Do you have anything?

[4:09:25] Oh, hey, obviously, I'm an interest for your guy, that's where I think you build it and they will come and that's really

[4:09:31] We're that's probably the genesis of everything I think about for the city

[4:09:36] Councilman Thorne.

[4:09:54] Thank y'all for your input. This is very exciting to hear all y'all because y'all you can see the excitement here

[4:10:04] All

[4:10:09] right. It is 102. We'll take a break. Uh, these days is here. We'll go into the next segment of the agenda. We'll allow, uh, the folks. Well, no, we're, we're not done yet. We're just taking a potty break while we redo the room. We're done at two. What we might, might not go until two. We're almost done. So,

[4:10:29] yes, there's a whole break from two to three. Right now.

[4:10:34] There's a change over take the stuff down put the markers away and then get ready for the next segment and we'll go for that

[4:11:15] No, this is a break, we're just on a break.

[4:11:20] Yes?

[4:11:26] Okay.

[4:11:34] She's so cute.

[4:11:35] I don't know.

[4:11:37] Like, in.

[4:11:40] Yeah.

[4:11:41] We.

[4:11:42] We got a clear question as to well.

[4:11:44] Yes, wanted.

[4:11:45] Uh, there's some, some homework we got to do on it before final presentation.

[4:11:51] Okay.

[4:11:52] What.

[4:11:53] What.

[4:11:54] What did you do?

[4:11:55] Uh, rupture.

[4:11:56] What's up?

[4:12:00] I'll know.

[4:12:01] Hopefully by tomorrow.

[4:12:03] But I know for sure.

[4:12:04] I just don't know if that's all the damage.

[4:12:07] I don't think that's all the damage.

[4:12:08] It hurts too much to just be that.

[4:12:11] I know it's surgery in six weeks.

[4:12:14] Keep it my legs great, but I know for a five.

[4:12:17] I don't know the rest.

[4:12:19] Tsu-Tsu did all the rest.

[4:12:21] Good luck.

[4:12:21] Thanks.

[4:12:22] How are you?

[4:12:24] Thank you very much.

[4:12:25] I can't sit for too long.

[4:12:26] Thank you.

[4:12:27] Thank you.

[4:12:27] Thank you very much for your time.

[4:12:29] Thank you.

[4:12:30] I've been through two left NACLs.

[4:12:31] You'll be all right.

[4:12:32] Yeah, no.

[4:12:32] I know this so I've had two ACLs, I've had two ACLs.

[4:12:37] Yeah, I'm ready for it.

[4:12:41] We're going to have some fun.

[4:12:42] Yeah, I'm excited about this.

[4:12:43] It's going to be great.

[4:12:46] You too.

[4:12:49] Thank you all for coming.

[4:12:51] Appreciate you.

[4:12:56] Yeah, I don't know.

[4:12:57] I don't know you.

[4:12:59] Last Sunday.

[4:13:05] Yes, yes, for sure appreciate that. Thank you

[4:13:37] Can you try to show how to take that tape back to the house?

[4:13:43] What else should we do?

[4:15:04] I've been in the city for just being like, okay, if you know you've got growth this year,

[4:15:21] You're going to have to build out why are you not saving money like it's a return

[4:15:27] You're going to stop making money at some point

[4:16:09] Yeah, I give it about an hour and a half, maybe it might even already be out.

[4:16:15] Yeah.

[4:16:21] Thank you.

[4:16:50] I'm going to catch a pull it up.

[4:16:54] Oh, really?

[4:16:55] Districts, obviously.

[4:16:58] Well, they've already showed up.

[4:16:59] We'll go to the other side.

[4:17:00] Oh, here's the other side.

[4:17:01] Make sure it's close to the key.

[4:17:04] How many?

[4:17:43] and you're all day doesn't matter, so yeah.

[4:17:55] The only thing that we're doing is for one

[4:17:56] of the quarterly lifting

[4:18:07] sometimes.

[4:18:13] Yeah.

[4:18:15] Oh,

[4:18:25] soft target risk?

[4:18:26] Woo.

[4:18:32] Yeah, I can tell you the abundance

[4:18:34] of emergency management calls that I'm on,

[4:18:38] that it's just, it's scary.

[4:18:41] Like, almost daily.

[4:18:44] It is almost daily, the risk that we're under.

[4:18:51] It's an ice state.

[4:18:53] I am not ever going into an ice skating rink, I'm probably never going to touch a ball of any size again in my life, don't worry, don't worry.

[4:19:23] and that's what you're doing.

[4:19:24] Yes, yes, yes and how do you...

[4:19:25] Well, all health is directly related to hard health.

[4:19:29] So, no, no, no, no.

[4:19:34] That's a good thing.

[4:19:34] Yeah.

[4:19:35] The world is, I have a nervous show.

[4:19:36] I have a nervous show.

[4:19:37] That's what you're getting.

[4:19:38] Yeah.

[4:19:39] Yeah.

[4:19:40] Do you know what you're getting?

[4:19:41] I don't know what you're getting.

[4:19:42] What you're getting?

[4:25:44] It's only because the next item we have would be some executive session discussion, but I understand, Councilmember Thorne, you wanted to mention something before we continued? Yeah, point of order.

[4:25:57] I solve this item. And I ask in a kind of written opinion from the city attorney. The attorney informed me that only the mayor or her designated can make a written ask for written opinion.

[4:26:14] So, I allege that the notice on this agenda does not satisfy the subject matter notice requirements of the Texas Open Media Act given that it identifies only the statutory exceptions.

[4:26:31] 551-071 but does not identify the specific legal matters dispute or subject on which

[4:26:40] the council will be consulting with this item.

[4:26:46] In addition, I have reviewed Texas Open Meetings Act as well as Attorney General Ken Paxson

[4:26:55] and zero, four, seven, dated October 2nd, 2024 and as such, I alleged that to go into

[4:27:05] executive session on this unnamed topic and general's topic that is addressed in the

[4:27:12] Attorney General Paxton's opinion is of I alleged is a violation of penal code so

[4:27:24] I will

[4:27:24] not be attending the executive session and I would like the secretary to so note that in the

[4:27:30] official minutes. Thank you. And so I would just like to make a comment. The executive

[4:27:37] session is properly noticed. The subject matter is protected under the attorney client privilege

[4:27:42] and so it is properly noticed. However, you do, you can not attend and we can still hold the

[4:27:47] And I still make my assertion and I ask for a ruling from the chair, because I need to follow the procedure.

[4:27:58] I made a point of order so I need a ruling from the chair.

[4:28:07] We got an executive session on this with Nelson.

[4:28:11] The one that we have right now under for a, is your consultation with attorney as part of the retreat.

[4:28:16] And one of the things that's been asked and we've had kind of normal custom is a quarterly legal update.

[4:28:21] I believe the last one we had was in April, so I think we're behind a month.

[4:28:26] So we wanted to have that in conjunction to provide an update to the council on any legal matters that are going on.

[4:28:33] It's a very brief update.

[4:28:35] It is this board's decision whether you want to have that or not.

[4:28:39] But we started that custom caretaker about a year, year and a quarter ago after I started.

[4:28:44] If you'd like to have that update, we're ready to provide it.

[4:28:47] Should we sort in a suite if not, we understand Ms. Dages here to provide that for you.

[4:28:52] May I ask the question?

[4:28:55] Well, point of order is not debatable.

[4:28:58] No, but you can ask the question.

[4:28:59] Can I ask why in the topic it didn't say quarterly legal update?

[4:29:07] Well, because-

[4:29:08] Because there's a section in the agenda, because not only is this for our benefit,

[4:29:15] it's for

[4:29:16] And they may be online, even now, want to know, well, what was this executive session?

[4:29:21] And it did not have an opportunity to make written comments, to make comments online,

[4:29:31] or to physically come here and court it again.

[4:29:35] So I can only say that under the advisement of how we posted the agendas and how we've done this in the past.

[4:29:40] that's posted no differently than it has been before.

[4:29:43] You heard from our city attorney that this is how we posted it and we are within our rights

[4:29:49] as to continue to have a meeting.

[4:29:51] It would not have been posted in any other way because listing quarterly legal update is not

[4:29:56] something that would have been up there usually.

[4:29:59] So it's usually-

[4:30:00] The last meeting we had, open meetings, a situation where you had a question about my situation or appointment or employment or whatever the case is. So there's four different categories in which we can go under executive session. After review, this qualifies as one of them. But again, it's this body's will whether you want to or not. We're here to provide a quarterly update. I promise you I would do it as close to quarterly as possible. I felt this form with the long day that we had if we could get it done before the budget workshop would be

[4:30:29] appropriate, but if not then it is, it is your will. Or in this case mayor, your will to

[4:30:36] hang away.

[4:30:38] That's why it's that? That's why?

[4:30:45] Okay. Okay. Okay. I'm making a appeal. I make a appeal of the mayor's

[4:30:51] room. Again, I'm just following procedure to the council.

[4:31:09] I can't vote because I need you

[4:31:11] where I can vote on it because we raise it because we raise it. Yes, absolutely. Thank you.

[4:31:18] Thank you. Thank you for

[4:31:19] appreciate the following procedure.

[4:31:21] Roger.

[4:31:25] Yes.

[4:31:29] Do we need our members?

[4:31:31] No.

[4:31:53] Sorry.

[4:31:55] I found out that it was really low, but I

[4:32:01] didn't really see it.

[4:32:03] I told you where you got crossed by an animal.

[4:32:06] Yeah.

[4:32:07] My little one didn't like to see what it did.

[4:32:09] It was good.

[4:32:11] It was good.

[4:32:12] It was good.

[4:32:13] It was good.

[4:32:15] It was good.

[5:05:00] On the left one, I had the meniscus operator on that dislocated kneecap, cracked kneecap on the other name.

[5:05:13] Definitely.

[5:05:18] I also had a partially torn patella.

City Council Retreat Workshop 8-19-26

Transcript